


Found Families

by Sunshine26



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/M, Family Feels, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Survival, Team as Family, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:27:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27461194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunshine26/pseuds/Sunshine26
Summary: For most of her life, all Amelia did was run. She ran from everyone and everything. It was easier that way. Good thing she did too, now with the constant looming threat of the dead, their only hope is to keep running. However, there was nothing that could prepare her for running into her estrange crossbow wielding best friend during the end. Can they move on from the pain of the past to survive the future?
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hiyah! This is my first time posting here, so please bear with me as I try to work this out. I just want to say thank you for taking a time to read my story. I debated with myself for while on sharing this with anyone, but I figured that I have nothing to lose, right? I hope you enjoy it. Btw, English is not my first language, so if you see any mistakes, I apologize. Anyways, have a nice reading, bye!

Running. That’s the only thing she knew now; it was the only thing that mattered, it was the only thing that could help her, and it was the only way to guarantee her safety in this new world.

For Amelia, this was not something out of the ordinary. Running has been a part of her life routine; she ran from the bullies back when she was fourteen, she ran when her brother would chase her out of his room, she ran when her mother found out that she was spending time with the troublesome neighbors, she ran when she got lost in the woods behind her home and she ran when things fell through with her best friend. So, it was not surprising to witness Amelia running for her life through the woods.

Huffing and puffing she went, shifting the weight on her arms when they went numb, minding her footing around the roots and trunks on the floor, while at the same time looking over her shoulder now and then for looming threats, with no idea where she was headed.

She had been at it for no more than forty-five minutes and she was slowly running out of breath and her throat was getting dry. She was itching for a minute of rest and some water to subdue her thirst. These were the moments in which she regretted not taking part in any other type of physical activities that did not involve running away from problems or behind a toddler who did not want to take a shower.

Before Amelia ran around in the woods with a four-year-old boy in her arms, while being mindful of the forthcoming threats that now roamed the Earth, she lived an ordinary life.

Amelia lived in a two-bedroom apartment in Atlanta with Lucas, working eight hours as an English teacher at a High School. She would then proceed to take care of her little boy, prepare warm meals, baths and possibly a feature of one of the many repeated animated movies in her collection. That perfect life of hers, went away in the blink of an eye when the dead started walking.

“Mama?” a little voice whimpered in her ear, “How much longer?”

“I don’t know baby,” she answered not only his innocent question but the questions that roamed around her mind each day.

She did not know how much longer she’ll keep on running, she didn’t know how much longer they’ll go without water or food, she didn’t know how much longer the dead would keep on chasing them and she didn’t know how much longer they had left.

They could not keep going this way. They’ve both been running on fumes for quite a while and she needed to find a safe place to rest and soon. Their last shelter had been her car, which broke down a few miles as they were leaving Atlanta.

After everything went to hell, she had decided to try and get out of the city, but it was near impossible with how many people were on the same path as her, so she hid in an abandoned house, to wait out the big wave. From there she heard how the night filled with the sound of explosions, and while it scared her, she had tried to stay brave for the sake of her son. When she figured it was safe enough, she wandered out, clutching a knife on her right hand, a knife that she was not sure if she would be capable of using, and Lucas’ little hand on her left one. They got into one of the cars that still had an ignition key on, without having to face any of those things, and she drove away, not looking back into the damaged city where her home resided.

They did not make it far in the little beat up car that they took, for the car broke down soon after, leaving them stranded on a deserted street, with some of the dead lurking around. They hid there, hoping to find any sign of life but by their second day, their supplies started running low, so when she saw her chance, she ran into the woods, which in hindsight it was not the brightest idea she’s ever had. Going into the woods on your own was crazy, going with a child was dangerous, and going with a child and without a weapon was just plain stupid.

Every sound around her had her on edge, not knowing if what lurked around was an innocent animal, a dangerous person or a monster, which was the way she has been referring to the dead corpses that wanted to eat her human flesh.

After they ventured a mile or two into the woods, Lucas had gotten tired and refused on walking, which resulted in Amelia carrying him. As for jogging, well when you hear a twig break in this atmosphere, you do the only smart thing, run.

“I’m hungry,” slumped the little boy in her arms. She didn’t answer him, instead she shushed him tenderly and rubbed little circles on his back.

They both were, their last meal had been a while ago, and she was sure that their food supply had run out. As Amelia was about to explain to him this, the sound of a car alarm was heard, which made her stop abruptly and Lucas to jump in her arms and to try to bury himself deeper against her shoulder.

“Shsh, it's ok,” she whispered against his sandy blond hair. “It’s only a car alarm.”

Amelia looked around, trying to pinpoint from where the sound was coming from.  
She shifted Lucas in her arms and tried to focus on the task of seeking the source of the sound, but it proved to be difficult for Amelia with it echoing around the looming forest. She walked aimlessly, not knowing where she was going and praying that she was on the right path, when suddenly the alarm stopped.

“Shoot,” she cursed under her breath. ‘Now what?’ she thought. Sighting softly, she kept on walking, giving up on trying to find its end. ‘It was too good to be true anyways. I mean what was I going to do after finding…’ She suddenly stopped in her tracks. ‘Oh God, what if it was one of those dead things or some serial killer or something? What would’ve happened? No. I’ve got to be smarter than that. I mean I have a child, for God’s sakes-‘She stopped her inner rambling when she heard a twig break.

Amelia slowly turned around and saw one of the dead people. One dead thing, that was in fact, moving towards her and Lucas. Amelia guessed that it was -or at least it used to be- a man, now it was a lifeless vigil with grey skin and battered garments that were covered in blood, grime and dirt. It’s only arm, which was slowly decaying, was stretched out towards her and its dead, lifeless eyes were set upon her and her son with its jaw snapping and some animalistic growls coming from deep within its throat.

Upon seeing the monster Lucas tensed in her arms and buried his head on her shoulder, which sprung her into action. Tightening her hold on her child, she spun on her heels and ran. Picking up her pace, she tried to lose the dreaded walking thing, dodging trees and branches, trying to ignore the growls and the little boy’s pleas to go faster.

With a fright, she realized that she was slowly getting tired and losing speed. She looked back and saw that only twenty or twenty-five feet was the distance between them and the dead. She came to halt, trying to look for some place where she could hide her little boy because she was not letting her son die in the hands of that monster. She had to distract it and hope she could make her way back to Lucas.

As if the universe heard her prayers, she heard some voices coming from her right side. Supporting her boy with one hand, she moved some branches out of the way as quickly and quietly as she could. Coming face to face with a clearing, she could see people moving around and smiling. Praying that these people were as good as they looked, she put her son down, who looked up at her with big tearful green eyes when he was set down.

Putting her doubts and worries aside, she crouched down and put her hands on his shoulder, holding him firmly, “Listen to me Lucas, I need you to run towards those people. I’ll come back for you, ok?” She put as much reassurance as she could behind her words, but she could not believe them herself. She did not know if she could outrun that dead thing, that was slowly moving closer towards them, but it was the only way she could think of giving a chance to her son. And she was not sure that these people would take care of her little boy, but she was desperate, and desperate people did desperate things at desperate times.

As she saw that Lucas was about to protest, she cut him off, “Lucas, the monster is right behind us and I need to lead him away. I’ll find you, ok?”

The little boy reluctantly nodded and jumped into his mother’s arms. She held him tight against her and kissed his head, trying to engrave the smell of him in her memory, the way he felt in her arms in case she didn’t find her way back, while whispering ‘I love you’ repeatedly.

She broke their hug when she heard the growl closer than it was a minute ago and pushed him towards the clearing. “Go Lucas, run,” and with one last tearful look towards her, he turned around and ran towards the clearing.

Amelia only stayed until she saw the people take him in and saw a brown headed woman move slowly towards him. Releasing a shaky breath, she turned towards the monster, which was a lot closer than before. “Hey, you! Yes, you creepy git, you want a piece of this sexiness!” she called out to it. “I bet I tasted delicious, not that I have tasted myself, but I don’t mean to bra-AHH!” She dodged it when it leaped towards her and turned on her heels and ran, leading it away from the clearing. She did not only hope that it distracted him from the people in the clearing but that it also alerted them of her existence and the danger she was in.

She looked behind her as she ran, making sure that it was following her and not on its way towards the clearing. She darted between trees, moving left and right, all the while taunting it, just to keep it on her tail. As she turned her head once again, just to make sure that it was behind her, she did not see the tree trunk that was lying on the grass, hidden from view. She fell face forward, getting the wind knocked out of her.

“Crap!” she breathed, trying to get some airs into her lungs. Turning around, she was met with the rotting face of the monster, who had jumped towards her, snapping its jaw.

Amelia fought with every strength she had in her, pushing it as far away as she could but it was no use. The monster had the upper hand on her, she was currently sprawled out, with no more strength in her. She could feel the adrenaline that pumped through her veins, slowly leaving her and it was getting difficult to keep it away. A sob broke from the barriers of her lips as she realized that her arms were trembling, and she knew that she could not hold on much longer. She let out a scream and looked up at the sky. Amelia refused to let that monster be the last thing she saw before she died.

“I’m sorry, Lucas,” She sniffled as she imagined her little boy. She saw him smiling up at her with that sweet beaming smile that allowed his dimples to break through, mischief and love dancing around his green orbs. She saw him hold out his little green triceratops like he would do when he wanted her to join in on his play time. Smiling slightly, she closed her eyes, waiting for her impending doom.. She would gladly go remembering her son. “I love you.”

As her arms were about to let go, the weight of the monster was no longer being held by her arms, in fact she could not feel it close by. Opening her hazel eyes, she saw three men killing the monster that almost took her away from her son. Letting her body sag backwards against the floor, she let herself break down, covering her face with her hands, as sobs racked over her body and the adrenaline left her body.

Amelia willed herself to calm down, ‘The worst part is over,’ she told herself. ‘You’re alive. You’ll see Lucas soon. The monst- she jerked into a sitting position when she no longer heard the grunts of the men or the growls of the monster and came face to face with the barrel of a gun, making her yelp.

“Who the hell are you?” asked the man behind the gun that was pointed at her. His menacing dark eyes glared at her which made her shrink back.

“Shane, lay off,” said another of the men that stood behind the man -Shane- who was holding the gun towards her. The man that spoke moved towards Shane and lowered the barrel of the gun. He then turned his curious blue eyes towards Amelia, and studied the auburn headed petite woman that was currently sitting on the floor covered in dirt and looking disheveled with puffy hazel eyes and tear stain marks across her cheek, shaking from the encounter she just had.

Amelia looked between the two men before her and settled her eyes on the blue-eyed one when Shane glared at her. She then noticed that this one was wearing a sheriff uniform, making Amelia relax slightly, not knowing if they could be trusted.

“Are you ok?” he asked her, a trace of concern lacing his voice, stretching out his hand to help her up and ignoring how she flinched when he lowered it towards her.

“Yeah,” she mumbled as she accepted the hand, brushing her behind once he hauled her up. “Thanks.”

Amelia took a moment to take all three of them in. The sheriff, ‘Grimes’, read on his uniform, looked at her, trying to determine if she was a threat or not. On his right side, Shane stood tall, towering over her, just as Grimes did, but whereas the policeman was looking at her curiously and weary with a touch of kindness, Shane was glaring daggers at her direction, with his gun pressed against his chest, waiting for her to give him a reason to raise his gun and put a bullet in her. Amelia looked away from him and turned her attention towards the man behind the two of them, an Asian man who had a nerdy aura to him. He was wearing a baseball cap and hanging loosely by his side was a crowbar and was looking at her nervously. Sensing this, she smiled slightly towards him, and this seemed to be the right thing to do for she could feel the atmosphere lose a little bit of the tension. She then looked down, and saw the dead monster, it’s face smashed in, which made her flinch and turn her eyesight back towards the men.

“Thank you, again,” she said, looking between the three of them.

“No problem,” Grimes said, smiling slightly but then, his face morphed one into concern and took a small step towards her. “Is the little boy yours?”

Looking at him with wide eyes she nodded earnestly at the mention of her son, “Where is he? Is he ok?” She asked while looking at each of them. She moved closer to Grimes, blinking away the tears that welled up in her eyes. “I need you to take me to him.”

Shane took this the wrong way and stepped to close for comfort towards her, “You’re not going anywhere near our camp.” He sneered as he looked at her with disgust, which angered Amelia.

Now Amelia was a woman who hated conflict and always tried to avoid it, but when it came to her son, well…that was another story. Like the time when they made her wait an hour in the hospital with a three-year-old who had a fever of 101° C. Let’s just say that when Amelia went up to the nurse with a fussy child in her arms, they rushed them in, not wanting to get another earful of the woman who seemed innocent but had the fury of a lion.

“Shane, come on man, that’s her son,” the Asian man cut Amelia off, before she could say something that she would probably end up regretting. The three of them turned towards him, and Shane looked at the man in question incredulously.

Shane moved towards the man, “We don’t know if she is dangerous.” He whispered not so quietly.

Amelia frowned, all she wanted was her son, “I can hear you, so stop talking as if I’m not here. I just want my son.” She said, ending her statement in a whisper, wrapping her arms around her, trying to hold her composure before she broke down for a second time before them.

“And we’ll take you to him,” Grimes turned his body to the left, making an opening for her to walk.

With a shaky breath, she started to walk in between the Asian guy and Grimes, but before she could go any further, Shane stepped in front of her. “Not so fast. Hand over your weapon,” he said holding out his hand.

Amelia stopped on her tracks and looked at the three of them and saw that they all were looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to do as Shane commanded. “Um…I don’t have one,” she mumbled towards the floor. Which resulted in Shane scuffing and looking at her incredulously, which made Amelia look up and cross her arms in defiance. “I’m serious, I don’t have it. I lost it a while back,” which was the truth.

After they had left the shelter of their car and made their way towards the woods, she had thought it was a smart idea if she left a trail, just in case she did not find anything, at least they could go back towards the car and camp there. At one point she had stopped, taking her bag off one of her shoulders, while still holding her son’s hand and had handed him the water bottle as she looked for the knife. She saw her clothing, some of Lucas’ toys, pictures, her wallet, passports, first aid kit, woman hygiene stuff but no knife. She had left it in the car, on her dashboard as she was helping Lucas into his jacket. There was no way she would be able to get it, for they were too deep into the woods.

Shane only glared at her, trying to detect the lie, that was not there. Sighing in defeat, he leaned closer towards her, “You try anything, and I won’t hesitate.” With those words and one last hard glare, he turned his back towards her and began to walk towards what Amelia guessed -and hoped- was the way towards the camp, kicking the body of the monster.

Flinching slightly at the sight, she turned towards the two men behind her. They both nodded at her, which she took as a sign to follow the dark-haired man who believed she was out to hurt them. Amelia really did not blame him, though. In the world they were living in, nothing was what it seemed, it would be rarer to find a decent human being that did not have his own agenda. Besides, he was only protecting his camp, she concluded.

After a minute of silent walking, the sheriff moved to her side, “I’m sorry about Shane.” He apologized sincerely about the man that was walking in front of them.

“It’s ok, I get it. You have to be skeptical and cautious,” she smiled slightly in his direction, which he answered with one of his own, and it made Amelia feel a little more calmed.

“I’m Rick by the way and that’s Glenn,” he said while nodding and pointing at the other nameless man that helped her -Glenn- who was walking behind them.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Amelia,” she said smiling once again but this time towards them both, which relaxed them slightly.

They kept on walking in silence, the only sound that could be heard was the crunching of leaves below their shoes and the occasional singing of birds above them. The four of them in constant vigilance, for they did not know when one of the dead things would sprung upon them.

Rick took in the petite woman by his side. She was shorter than him, maybe around 5’3”, with curly auburn hair and bright hazel eyes, that Rick could see that held a gleam of fun and mischief behind the worry, caution and fear, but what caught his attention was there was also something there, something that he knew it was being lost in the world. Hope, hope was what lay behind all the other emotions and Rick could not help but feel a newfound respect for her. With that thought on his mind, he focused back on his journey, throwing glances around him.

When they finally made it into the clearing, Amelia’s legs were begging her for a rest, but she knew that she could not stop, a) because if she would, it would probably anger Shane more and b) she needed to see her son. This discomfort got pushed to the back of her mind when they stepped out from behind the trees and Amelia saw that the camp was bigger than what she got to see.

By the side they came out, cars were piled up, facing one direction. At the opposite end, she could make out some tents and an RV and picnic tables here and there, with twenty or so people walking around. Amelia looked around and saw her baby boy in the arms of a brown headed woman, who was whispering to the uncontrollable child. His head rested against her shoulder, facing Amelia. His eyes were closed, and tears rolled down his little face. From where she was, she could see his little body shaking, and hear his little cries.

The sight broke Amelia’s heart, and her eyes flooded with tears and a knot began to form in her throat. She covered her mouth to try to hold up the sobs that would soon break free from her, as she moved away from the three men beside her towards her son. “Lucas,” she called out to her son, her voice wavering.

The little boy opened his eyes and lifted his head from the woman’s shoulder and looked around for the sweet voice of his mother. When his little puffy green eyes settled on her, a watery smile broke from his lips, “Mommy!” he exclaimed, squirming on the woman’s arms, wanting to be set down, so that he could reach the familiar arms of his mother, but the woman was distracted and hesitant with the newcomer who was slowly walking towards her with her arms stretch-out and tears leaking from her eyes. “Mommy,” he repeated once again, fidgeting more fiercely with the woman’s hold, who was looking at Rick for approval to set the child down.

With a faint nod from Rick, the woman settled the little boy down beside her, who when felt the stable ground underneath him, quickly took off towards Amelia as fast as he could. Meeting him halfway, she took him into her arms, and held him against her chest, leaving kisses wherever she could reach. She could feel him shaking in her arms, and in turn she held him closer to her, trying to reassure him that everything was ok.

The people around them witnessed once again how a family got reunited, seeing both mother and child clinging to one another, both crying and keeping each other grounded. A heartwarming scene, that had Rick walking towards his family, and keeping his eyes on the woman and child, Shane slowly lower his guard a little, the two blond sisters held each other more closely, Glenn smiled slightly and move towards the old man that was close to the blond sisters, who was looking at the scene with warmth in his eyes. The woman who consoled Lucas in her arms a few moments before, tighten her hold on her son with bright blue eyes, the mother with her little girl hugged hers closer and the little family of two parents and two children huddled tighter together. It was a sight that brought serenity, love, warmth and hope all around the campsite.

“Are you ok?” Amelia asked Lucas, as she lifted his head from her chest to see the face of her little boy.

He looked up at her, eyes swimming with joy and love, as tears fell from his eyes and snot ran down his nose. A bright smile lit up his face, “Yes mommy.” He answered and leaned up to give her a tender kiss.

Amelia breathed a laugh and cradled his head against her shoulder, running her finger through his sandy blond hair. Her eyes found Rick, who was across from her with an arm around the woman who held her child a minute ago and a hand on the shoulder of a little boy, no older than nine years old, who had the same blue eyes as his. Smiling slightly at them, she mouthed a ‘Thank You’, she then turned her eyes towards the sky, and breathed in, “He’s safe, you’re safe” she thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! Thank you to all who gave the story a chance. Hope you enjoy! Again, I'd like to point out that English is not my first language, so if you see any mistakes, I apologies. 
> 
> Oh, before I forget, I don't know if it needs to be mentioned, but just in case. I don't own the Walking Dead, only my OCs.

Amelia sat on a log around the campfire with Lucas sound asleep against her chest, both wrapped around a blanket that Glenn gave her, slightly listening to Rick talk. After she and Lucas managed to calm down, Lori, who Amelia learned was Rick’s wife and was the one who held her child when she was on her suicide run, approached her, settling them on a picnic table with food and water for them, while the group stepped aside to talk, what Amelia guessed was what they planned to do with her and her son. They did not seem like the type of people that would kill on an instant or would let a person fend for themselves; from what she could see around, they seemed good people, ‘ _ But looks can be  _ deceiving’ she thought. She decided that maybe she could give them a chance if they gave her one. The camp seemed secure enough and it was what she needed, a secure place for her and her child. ‘ _ At the first sign of threat from any of them, I’ll pack up and leave’ _ she concluded. 

So, when Shane and Rick advanced towards her to offer her a place in their camp, she said yes without a second thought. They were then introduced to the people around them and when the sun began to dim, they all moved towards the campfire where they were seated listening to Rick tell his story of how he woke up from a coma to find out that the world had gone to hell and that his family was nowhere to be found.

‘ _ How horrible it must have been for him. I can’t imagine waking up and finding out that everything I knew has been lost, and to not know where your family is…’ _ she let the thought drift off. She could not think that. Granted, she had no idea where her brother was but at least she had her son. At the thought of him, she dropped a kiss on his soft hair, as her mind drifted towards her brother.

Their relationship was a rocky one, but that didn’t mean she loved him any less. She had last heard of him a few weeks before everything went down. He had called just out of duty and they had a civilized talk about letting each other know how they were and him to inquire about his nephew. The kind of talk, where people run out of things to say and the line fills with an awkward silence. The talk that ended with an excuse of some sort and with the promise of a call back soon, that they both knew would not come for a while. She didn’t remember if they had said their ‘ _ I love you’  _ but she hoped he knew that she loved him, and she hoped that wherever he was that he was all right.

Amelia’s thought then drifted towards her friend, a friend she has not heard of or has seen for more than five years. Even though their relationship had not ended in the best of terms. Harsh words were said during their last conversation, words that would be hard to forgive on both parts. She remembered how she slammed the door of his house and drove away and never looked back. 

Sometimes, before she went to sleep, she would think of him, wondering how he was, if he missed her like she missed him, if he was sorry like she was, and she would cry herself to sleep. She would then wake up the next morning and would push him towards the back of her mind. There was no use on thinking of someone who didn’t want to do anything with you. And so, that’s what she did, and it worked. For a week at least, before she found herself doing the same thing again. It was a cycle she could not seem to break. So, it was no surprise to her, that she would try to find him, after all this time, after the world went to hell she saw herself running back to him. She had to make sure he was ok, that he was alive.

The twitch of a hand on her chest brought her out of her melancholic thought, and she looked down and saw her son sleeping, his face facing her with his hands balled up into a fist against her chest. Smiling softly, she brushed his hair out of his eyes, and dropped another feather kiss on his forehead.

“Huh?” she whispered when her name was called out. She looked up from her son’s face and saw that everyone’s attention was trained on her.

“What’s your story?” asked Amy, a young woman who was seated beside her sister, Andrea.

“Oh, well…it’s not that interesting really,” she whispered, setting her sight on the fire. “I guess we just got lucky.” She shrugged her shoulders softly, not wanting to wake up her son.

“We want to hear it, “said Shane, not so kindly.

‘ _ I guess he is still weary of me.’ _

“We want to hear how you have survived this long.”

Amelia saw Rick sitting up slightly, from where he was huddled up with his family, and knowing that maybe he would come into her defense, she cut him off. She did not want an argument to break out, “All right, um…I am, was a High School English teacher. I moved to Atlanta around ten years ago and I have been living there ever since…” she trailed off, not knowing what exactly they wanted to hear. Her story was not as exciting as Rick’s.

Glenn, sensing this popped up, “Where were you when all this happened?” he asked.

“I was at home. Lucas and I were about to have a movie night when…” she took a shuddering breath. “When there was an urgent knock on my door. Michael, my neighbor, rushed in and told me to pack up, to take only the necessities and leave the city. That people were suddenly going crazy and eating flesh” 

She still remembered the terror in his eyes, how he locked up the door and urged her to hurry up. She was so scared, “I asked him what was going on, that he was not making any sense. He looked at me and there was genuine fear in his eyes, something I had never witnessed in him, and that’s how I knew something bad was really going on.” 

She took a shuddering breath, relieving that day all over again. Amelia doubted that she would ever forget it. “So I did as he asked and packed our bags. I picked up Lucas while he took our bag and told me to stay close to him. When we managed to make it outside, it was a pandemonium. People running around, I could hear screams and…it was as if I was living a nightmare.” She stopped and shook her head, trying to get rid of those images that hunted her.

“What happened next?” asked Dale, as he leaned in.

Swallowing the lump on her throat, she continued, “I…I don’t know what happened. He was right there behind me, he made sure Lucas and I got safely in the car and as he was making his way towards the driver side, one of those…those…- “

“Walkers?” supplied Rick, looking at her with sympathy.

“Yeah, walker,” she breathed, the word feeling foreign as it rolled out of her mouth, but it somehow fitted them. “It came charging from behind and I tried to warn him, but it was too late. It jumped on him and it was ripping the flesh from his shoulder. Then another one came, and it jumped on him too. God…he screamed so loud and I just stood there frozen and Luke- “she trailed off, a soft sob broke from the barrier of her lips, she had yet to analyze the situation, to mourn the death of her friend. She had no time to do so, with being on constant vigilance and on the run. 

She flinched when she felt a light pressure on the hand that was supporting Lucas. A delicate hand took a hold of hers and Amelia looked at Lori who gave her a slight squeeze and a sad smile. Returning her smile with a watery one of her own, she continued, still holding onto Lori’s hand.

“He witnessed it. God, he was crying begging me to crawl to the back seat with him, but I couldn’t do anything. I was frozen in place. I only jumped into action when Michael told me to drive, to leave. And I did. I left him. I just drove and left him there” She whispered, feeling guilty that she could not save him. And for the first time she wondered if it would be a recurring thing. Would there be other people she would not be able to save? Would one of them be her son? Her heart felt heavy at the thought, no, she had to keep on hope. 

The silence around her was defying, the others sitting around the fire taking in the guilt and sadness of their new camp member. Amelia didn’t dare to look up, already certain that their pity would be predominant, something she didn't want or needed. Clearing her throat, she continued, “I never made it far though, we got stuck pretty quickly. It looked like many people had the same idea of leaving the city. I knew that we were sitting ducks, it wouldn’t be long before a bunch of those walkers came. I wouldn’t have been able to carry those bags and Lucas, so I stashed as much as I could into one bag and put some light things on Lucas’ bag. I got out and started walking, covering Lucas from the horror that was becoming our world. I didn’t make it far before I heard screams. I panicked and ran towards an abandoned small house and from there we heard explosions. We stayed there for at least a week, not moving much and making as little sound as possible,” she said, keeping her eyes on Lucas, the only thing keeping her grounded.

“Why’d you leave?” T-Dog asked.

“I figured that sooner or later we would run out of supplies and we were not safe there either, so we left,” she answered, her eyes trained on the fire before her, still refusing to make eye contact with anyone. 

“Where were you headed?” asked Shane, in what sounded like a gentle tone to Amelia, which surprised her.

“At first I had no idea. I just wanted to get away from the city and if I managed to find someplace safe in the woods, so be it. But on the way, I thought of some friends of mine. I haven’t heard from them in a long while and I didn’t know if they would be happy to see me, but I had to at least try,” she answered with a sad smile, remembering the pair of brothers that were hard as nails but underneath all of it, were caring and protective. “But my car broke down and when our supplies started running low, we ventured out into the woods. I then got lost, couldn’t remember the way back and we’ve been walking around for at least a week before we heard the car alarm.”

The group listened to her story earnestly and understood what she must have gone through. Lost, alone, looking out for a little boy with no protection from what they gathered. When she looked up at them, they tried to show sympathetic looks and understanding, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable and wanting to make her feel welcome into a group of people she didn’t know.

Amelia raised her watery hazel eyes and saw that they all were giving her a small sad smile. Her breath got caught in her throat when she felt something she has not felt since the beginning of this all, safe and welcome. 

Their gaze and silence was broken by the sound of wood clattering, which made all of them turn their eyesight towards where the Peletiers were seated together around their small fire.

Amelia had talked with Carol Peletier, a mousy thin woman who approached her with her daughter Sophia to welcome them into the camp. Carol seemed nice, but she seemed to shy away, looking scared. Her husband was a big scary man, who Amelia decided to stay away from. He gave her a bad vibe and Amelia had learned to trust her judgment.

“Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?” called out Shane, keeping his gaze on his hands.

“It’s cold man,” he responded with a nonchalant tone leaning back against his chair.

Amelia had a bad feeling about the whole thing. She could see that Ed was a man who was not to be reckoned with, but Shane was a cop and stubborn and from the looks of it did not like to be challenged. Amelia tightened her hold on Lori’s hand unconsciously and she did the same, sending her a reassuring smile, retracting her hand. Feeling vulnerable, Amelia increased her hold on Lucas and buried herself and him deeper into the blanket.

Shane clenched his jaw, and turned his eyes towards Ed’s direction, “The cold don’t change the rules, does it?” he mocked. “Keep our fires low, just embers so we can’t be seen from a distance, aight?”

One of “Shane’s Rules to Survival”, as Amelia liked to call it. After she accepted to stay with the group, he had started listing all the rules she had to follow to be part of the camp. Rules about not wandering on your own, pulling your weight, no fighting, and so many more that honestly, Amelia had forgotten already. She had dozed off and when he had finally finished, she had asked him for the contract to sign, which had earned her a harsh glare that made her shut up. She knew that rules were important and that they would keep them safe but in Amelia’s defense she had been tired and hungry. All she wanted was to rest for a second.

Amelia turned towards where Ed and his family were seated and saw Carol bury herself more into her chair with Sophia by her side, embarrassed by her husband's behavior and the attention. Making eye contact with Sophia, she made a funny face, crossing her eyes and sticking her tongue out, which made the girl giggle silently and Amelia smile softly.

“I said it’s cold. You should mind your own business for once,” snapped Ed, halting the silliness between the woman and the girl.

Amelia quickly snapped her gaze towards Rick, even though she had just met him, he had an aura around him that made her feel safe. He locked eyes with her, and he must have picked up the worry and fear in her eyes, for he slightly shook his head. He whispered something to Lori and the woman snapped her gaze towards Amelia, she then reclaimed Amelia’s hand again. Amelia tensed up when she saw Shane get up from where he was seated and made his way towards Ed and started to talk softly to him. Amelia’s breathing became a little erratic, for she hated confrontations and fights.

She remembered one of the times when her mind had shut down because of it. She was sixteen and she was waiting on the school steps for her ride, when a fight had broken out in the school parking lot. It had turned into a rumble in a matter of minutes and Amelia had been frozen by fear, unable to move, she knew she had to run but she was unable to. In the chaos, she had been shoved which made her lose her balance and fall on her hands and knees to the floor, where she was exposed on being trampled over, until a rough callous hand wrapped around her forearm and pulled her to her feet. Her head had been pressed against a letter jacket that had the familiar scent of smoke and grease. She remembered gripping it tightly as tears streamed down her eyes and how after she was safe in his car, he had cradled her head in his hands as his worry laced icy blue eyes looked for any injuries, to then being yelled at for not moving.

“Amelia, you ok?” Amelia looked up, and was met with the worry glance of Lori, who was still holding her hand.

She had not noticed but, she had gone rigid and was clutching Lori’s hand firmly on her own, which worried Lori. Loosening her hold on Lori’s hand, she smiled softly, “Umm…yeah. It’s just…I don’t like confrontation. They-uh, make me nervous. Sorry”

Lori waved her off, “It’s ok. I think Shane has it covered.” She nodded towards where the man in question was.

Amelia turned to look towards where Lori nodded, and managed to catch how Ed said something to Carol and saw how the woman stood up and pulled the log out of the fire. Amelia turned back around towards Lori and looked at her incredulously at Ed’s behavior. Lori sent her sad smile and with one last squeezed she released her hand.

Shaking her head softly, Amelia turned her attention towards her son, something she seemed to be doing a lot. She could hear Shane’s footsteps move towards their little circle, as she ran her fingers through Lucas’ hair. After eating, the little boy had played with Carl, Lori and Rick’s son, who had taken a liking towards him. Lucas had talked to him about all the dinosaurs he knew, about how he loved to draw, and in exchange Carl had shown him his Hot Wheel collection. After their quiet conversation the little boy had settled against her chest and had fallen asleep quickly. Amelia felt bad for her son, knowing he must have been tired and hungry; it made her feel incapable of taking care of her child. Breathing deeply, she kissed his cheek.

“Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?” Amelia turned towards Dale so fast, that she drew the attention of the other people around her. She looked at him with wide eyes, “He won’t be happy to hear his brother was left behind.”

Amelia sat up, being mindful of the sleeping child on her arms, “Daryl Dixon?” She asked, bringing upon herself the attention of those who took no notice of how she reacted when Dale mentioned the name. “Daryl blue-eyed-carries-a-crossbow-wears-a-leather-angel-vest Dixon? Little brother of Merle, kind of a jerk?”

Glenn looked at his camp members, who were looking at the woman curiously. As he saw that no one was making a move to answer her, he leaned forward and voiced what most of them were thinking, “Umm, yeah. You know them?”

Amelia nodded, still in shock. She could not believe that the person she wanted to see was a part of this camp. The person she was driving to see when all of this went to hell. Her best friend, the best friend she had not heard or seen in five years. She breathed a laugh and fought the tears that welled up in her eyes. Amelia’s head snapped up when she remembered what Dale had said, “Wait, his brother was left behind?” They all answered her question with a nod. “Ho-how?” she asked.

“It was an accident,” Rick answered her question, looking at her remorsefully.

“How do you accidently leave someone behind?” she scoffed, Merle may have been an asshole, but Amelia could never leave him. Maybe she is biased because Merle had always had a little soft spot for her and vice versa, but that didn’t matter. She was pissed, “Where is Daryl?”

“He’s hunting,” supplied Shane, trying to ease her anger.

A silence fell over the camp, one that Amelia broke off, “Well?” she asked, arching an eyebrow. They looked at her questioningly, their eyebrows furrowed for they did not know what she was expecting. Exhaling through her nose, she asked again through clenched teeth, “How do you leave someone ‘accidentally’ behind?”

“It was an accident because I dropped the key to the handcuffs down the drain,” T-Dog answered her, raising his eyes. As she saw the remorse on his eyes, her anger slowly left her and as she looked around, she saw some of them held the same expression. “Rick cuffed him after he got violent. He started to beat me to a pulp, and it was my job to uncuff him when Rick came for us. It’s on me.”

“I cuffed him,” Rick spoke up. “He was erratic, putting us all in danger. That makes it mine,” he clarified, looking at Amelia.

Amelia shrunk back in her seat, shifting the weight on her arms, feeling a little bit guilty for snapping at them. She kind of understood their reason for cuffing Merle but it didn’t mean that it made her heart tighten at the thought of one of the toughest people she knew being left to fend for himself. .

“Guys is not a competition,” butted Glenn. “I don’t mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy,” he said sheepishly.

Amelia turned to look at him, incredulous. She turned to see the rest of the group members and saw T-Dog look offended.

Amelia stepped up into Daryl’s defense, “Daryl isn’t racist,” she said reeling back. “And it doesn’t matter who takes the blame or who tells him what happened, he’ll still be equally as pissed.”

“I did what I did, hell if I hide from it,” T-Dog directed his words towards Amelia, willing to be the one to break the news to Daryl.

“We could lie,” said Amy from beside her sister.

“Or you could tell the truth,” Amelia added, not expecting any of them to try the easy way out.

Andrea leaned on her knees and looked at Amelia, “Look, Amelia, Merle was out of control. What Rick did, was not on a whim, ok? It was either that or we would be dead.”

“Look, I get why he was cuffed, and I get that it was an accident,” she said, directing her words towards Rick and T-Dog. Directing her next words towards the rest of them, she made sure she made eye contact with all of them, “But you can’t lie about it, you have to tell him the truth. Those two are the only thing they have left in this world from the looks of it and even though Merle is a jerk, Daryl looks up to him. They would do whatever they can for each other. You will have your hands full when he comes back.” Amelia leaned back on her chair, and let those words sink in.

After a moment of silence, Amy suggested an idea that had Amelia freezing up, “Well, what if you talked to him?”

She looked at all of them like a deer caught in headlights. She never thought that someone would suggest something like that. Amelia did not envision that the very first time she would speak to Daryl after their falling out would be in an apocalyptic world to tell him that his brother may or may not be dead. No, she could not be the one to tell him.

Amelia started sputtering and tripping over her words before Dale spoke up, “I don’t think that it would lessen the blow, and quite frankly, I don’t want Amelia close when Daryl learns his brother got left behind. If one thing we gather from the Dixon brothers is that they have quite the temper.”

Amelia smiled when the old man put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, giving a short nod in thanks. In truth, Amelia was scared to be present entirely. Firstly, well because the last time they saw each other, things got out of hand and secondly, she hated when he went on one of his rages. Dale was right. Daryl could be impulsive, and he could let anger take control of him.

There was one time when she had accidently broken an arrow of his. She had invited herself to go hunting with him, granted she did not know how to hunt, she just wanted to be out of her house. He had argued against it for a week, saying that she would scare the animals with her heavy footfall or that she would cry when she saw him kill something or saying that she would get lost. Much to his displeasure, she had been waiting for him at the steps of his house, beaming up at him. He reluctantly accepted and as they were making their way towards his truck, he remembered his vest. Daryl left his crossbow and arrows on the car, telling her to wait beside the truck as he raced back inside to get it. Amelia waited and being the curious woman she is, she took one of his arrows into her hands, fidgeting with it. When suddenly the bolt broke in her hands at the exact moment that Daryl was coming out of his home. From there things got ugly, he had screamed at her hurtful things that made her cry. She threw the arrow at his chest and ran back home, crying. She had avoided him afterwards for a week before she had forgiven him.

“I was scared, and I ran. I’m not ashamed of it,” Amelia turned her attention towards T-Dog when she heard him confess this. Her eyebrows drew in together in confusion, not knowing where he was going with his statement.

“We were all scared, we all ran. What’s your point?” Andrea asked him, voicing what the group was thinking.

He let out a sight and clarified, “I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrowed, maybe a half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it, at any one time.” He shook his head, his eyes trained on the fire before him. “It’s not enough to break through that. Not that chain, not that padlock.” Turning his gaze towards Rick, they all could see the guilt in his eyes, “My point, Dixon is alive, and he’s still up there handcuffed on that roof. That’s on us.” He directed his words towards the group, letting his words hang and pierce them. With one last glance towards them, he stood up and left.

Amelia exhaled slowly, and watched as one by one, the rest of the assembly deliberately retreaded for the night. At that moment it dawned on her that she had no idea what her sleeping arrangement would be for the night.

Cautiously, she stood up from where she was seated, which proved to be difficult with a sleeping child in her arms. Once she was standing upright on her feet and certain that she would not fall over, she dragged her feet towards Dale.

“Hey um, Dale,” she called out softly to him, managing to catch him before he closed the door of his RV. Looking down at her with a soft smile he hummed in acknowledgement, “Where can we sleep?” She asked, shifting the weight on her arms.

Amelia saw how his eyes filled with realization, to then worry and apprehension. He walked down from the steps, and looked at her, “Would you mind sleeping, at least for tonight, on Daryl’s tent?” He quickly went on, as he saw how her eyes went wide, “It’s just that there is no room on any other tent. I’ll make sure that first thing tomorrow morning, we get you one for you and your boy. I know there must be one lying round here somewhere.”

As she was ready to protest, to suggest that she would rather sleep out in the open, when she felt a tickle on her chest. She looked down and saw Lucas shifting in her arms and knew that she could not do that. She could not expose her son because of her discomfort. She then thought of how more comfortable and warmer they would be, something that they did not have in the last few days. Clearing her throat, she looked up at Dale, “Yeah, it’s no problem.” Pushing the thought of the fit Daryl would throw once he knew who took shelter on his tent to the back of her mind.

Patting her shoulder affectionately, he looked around. Once he found what he was looking for, he called out, “Hey Glenn,” the young man looked up from where he was still seated on the campfire, “Can you take Amelia to Daryl’s tent?” The younger man's eyes widened slightly and nodded, making his way towards them.

With a soft thank you and good night to Dale, she picked up her navy-blue bag and Lucas’ dinosaur theme, one that she had left beside the picnic table and followed Glenn. Their walk was filled with an uncomfortable silence. From the side of her eyes she could see the man fidgeting with his hands, wanting to ease his nervousness she made the first move.

“So…” she trailed off, watching as he slowly looked at her. “What did you do before this?” she gestured around them.

“I…um-I was a pizza delivery boy,” he said.

“Hm, cool,” she said.

Amelia waited, but the Asian man beside her did not make a move to keep the conversation going, and quite frankly she was way too tired to try again, so their chat ended there. Once they reached the tent that was excluded from the rest, Glenn scratched the back of his head and mumbled ‘Good Night’ but before he could leave, she stopped him.

“Can you hold him?” she gestured to her son with her head, taking a small step towards him.

Glenn took a step back and looked at her wide eye, “M-me?” he stuttered.

“Do you see anyone else around?” she asked exasperated as she rolled her eyes. It might have sounded kind of rude, but in all honesty, Amelia didn’t care. She was tired, and her arms were going numb. Sheepishly he shook his head and moved forward when Amelia held Lucas out towards him.

With a sight of defeat when she saw how awkwardly Glenn was holding her son, she stepped into the tent. Inside she saw that it was not too crowded but not too roomy either. It was the right size for two grown men to be sleeping there, so she concluded that it would be ok for her and Lucas. At either side, she saw two sleeping bags, a pack bag on top of each one of them, with clothes thrown on top and around it, and various items, like cigarettes, arrows and cans lying around. Breathing slightly, she could make out the smell of smoke and musk, shaking her head, she dropped the bags on one side of the tent and began tidying up, as quickly as possible, trying not to disturb too much the area, knowing that Daryl would not take it lightly if someone would mess around in his safe place.

Once happy with how everything looked, she stepped outside once more, and saw Glenn shift Lucas in his arms, being careful to not wake him up. He looked up at her, giving her an awkward smile.

Amelia sent him a tired smile and shuffled towards him, “Thanks Glenn.” She said, taking the small sleeping child from his arms.

“No problem,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “We’ll see what we can do about your sleeping arrangement in the morning.”

“Okay. Good night,” she said as she turned towards the tent, hearing the same words come from the young man and his footsteps retreating.

Inside the tent, she carefully laid Lucas on the green sleeping bag that was on the far-right side of the tent. Amelia sat beside the sleeping boy, and without waking him up she took his shoes off, and then took hers off.

Still wide awake, she decided to check what exactly she had in their bags, which wasn’t much. What was buried in her old messed up navy blue bag was another pair of jeans, a flannel shirt, two tank tops, a long sleeve and a few pairs of underwear. For Lucas she had two more shirts, another pair of jeans and his favorite toy dinosaur. She was surprised to find a granola bar, which she thought she had run out of a while back. Setting them aside, she took out some photographs she had buried behind all her clothes.

The first one was of hers and Lucas at the park. It had been taken on his fourth birthday by one of her friends, Laura, if her memory served her right. In the picture, both were at a great distance from the person holding the camera, smiling brightly. Amelia had her arms around her son, slightly crouching down, hugging him from behind, while Lucas grinned widely towards the camera, leaning back against his mother. __ Letting out a small laugh, she remembered how afterwards, he had run off towards his friends, to keep on playing good guys vs bad guys.

Shaking herself from the memory, as she kept on looking at the pictures she had, she came across some of Lucas’ baby pictures, some of her and her brother, some of when she was younger with her parents, until she came upon a picture that made her stop in her tracks. It was one of a man who was driving, and even though his sight was set on the road, Amelia could still remember the shining blue color of his eyes that captivated her. His right hand was holding the steering wheel, while his left arm was hanging out the window. The mother of one could clearly remember his rough voice as he took notice of what she was doing,

“ _ Whatcha doing with that damn camera, girl?” he had asked, as he shoved it away from his face. _

_ “Making memories” Amelia had answered between giggles as she shoved her hair away from her face.  _

_ He only scoffed and looked at her with a disbelieving look, “You don’t need no camera to make memories. That’s what you got your brains for.” _

_ She had only shrugged, “Yeah, well what if I get Alzheimer or something? How will I remember then?” _

_ He gave her one of his rare smiles, “I’ll make sure you remember.” _

Amelia had gone still at his answer, which had taken her by surprise. Such a simple statement that had given her butterflies and left her little giddy inside. She had left the conversation at that, letting the wind blow through the window, taking away their words and light heartiness conversation.

“Oh Daryl,” Amelia breathed, as she brushed away a tear that fell on the picture and held it against her chest. What she would give to have that life back, where everything was easy.

A slight shuffle startled her, she turned around and saw Lucas roll on to his side, his face turned towards her. While she brushed away some strands of hair from his forehead, she realized that as much she missed those times, she didn’t wish to relive them if it meant the loss of her little boy. 

With a yawn, she put her belongings back in her bag, with the intention of getting a good night sleep, without having to worry too much about the dead. She positioned herself behind Lucas and as soon as the boy felt her, he rolled over, cuddling against her side, burying his head against her chest. Draping an arm against his tiny body, she brought him closer, dropping a small kiss against his forehead.

“I love you, Luke. I promise to do everything in my power to keep you safe,” with those last words towards her son, she closed her eyes and let herself be lulled into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be honest with you, I have no idea what am I doing. I only have the first four or five chapters in my draft. I wrote them around two or three years ago, so please bare with me. The story might possibly follow canon until season three or four with a few tweaks here and there, but I'm not entirely sure. It depends on where the muses take me. But who knows? It might not. I hope you enjoyed it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! Peeps, I can't thank you enough for the kudos and the comments. Honestly, I'm glad some of you are enjoying the story so far. I hope I don't disappoint. 
> 
> Anyways, this is the long awaited chapter. Daryl finally makes an entrance. I was going to hold off on posting it, but I figured why not? It's a holiday. 
> 
> This one is a long one, but I don't think you mind, do you? I hope you enjoy. I don't own the Walking Dead, just my OCs.

Amelia woke up the next morning to something poking her right cheek. Not wanting to get up just yet, she scrunched up her nose, and batted away whatever was poking her, which earned her a small giggle. Suddenly aware, she hid a smile and prepared herself for retaliation.

When she felt his finger hover against her cheek, she opened her eyes and sat upright, “Boo.” Lucas jumped back startled, but once he gained his composure, he started laughing, making Amelia join in. “Come here, you little bugger!”, she exclaimed as she sat him upon her folded legs tickling him. He trashed around in her arms, squealing, begging for mercy. After a minute Amelia let him catch his breath, “You sorry?” she asked, smiling.

The little boy nodded, the smile never leaving his lips. Looking up lovingly at his mother, he reached up and placed a small kiss against her cheek. Amelia looked down at him tenderly, and wrapped her arms around his small body, hugging him tight, wanting to shield him from the horrors of the world. She felt his little arms wrap around her torso, squeezing her with all his might. The mother looked down at her son and dropped a kiss at the top of his head.

These were the moments for which Amelia fought for. The moments that made all the ugliness in the world fade away and made her feel normal once again. She hoped that the evil that roamed around them wouldn’t suck all the joy and happiness from her child, because he was the only thing that kept her going.

She drew him away from her chest and looked at him, “You sleep well?” she asked him, as she brushed some strands of hair from his forehead.  _ He needs a haircut. _

As he was about to answer, a slight rumble came from within his stomach. Laughing, she poked him, making him jump away from her finger, “Someone is hungry.”

She reached behind her for her bag and brought out the granola bar she had found the night before. The little boy took it, and when he saw that his mother had nothing in her hands, he inquired, “What about you mommy?”

Amelia only smiled at him. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll eat something later,” she said, as she saw the hesitation about eating the last granola bar.

Lucas shook his head, determination running through his eyes, “We’ll share it.”

“Baby, it’s ok. I’ll find something later to eat.”

“But what if you don’t find anything to eat? What will you do then?” Amelia honestly didn’t know how to answer the question. If she could not find anything, then she would simply not eat, simple as that. “Sharing is caring,” he stated, trying to use the same authority tone she would use when she would preach the same words to him as he tore the granola in half.

Letting out a soft chuckle escape from her lips, she took the half he was offering her, knowing it was futile to argue with her four-year-old son. The boy beamed up at her in victory, which earned him a mock glare from his mother.

_ Little bugger, he is way too smart for his own good. _

After they had their breakfast and they had put their shoes on, they stepped outside. They were greeted by the harsh sunlight and the chatter of the few camp members that were awake. Taking hold of Amelia’s hand, Lucas dragged Amelia towards where Carl and Sophia were seated on the picnic table with their mothers. Once in close distance, he let go of her hand and sat beside the two children, who were engrossed in a conversation. When the young boy approached them, they both greeted him amicably, and included him into their little meeting.

At witnessing Carl and Sophia welcoming the four year old happily, Lori smiled, taking in how even though they were living in difficult times, their innocence was somewhat still intact. She then looked up and made eye contact with Amelia, who had the same thought as her.

“Morning. Did you sleep well?” Lori smiled at the young mother, as she folded up some clothes.

“Morning,” she said smiling at her. “Well is putting it mildly. We haven’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks.”

Lori only laughed softly at her response, shaking her head fondly. She could not imagine how it must have been for her, all alone, taking care of her child with no back up, no help, no resources and no shelter. She was thankful Shane was there for her and Carl at the beginning of it all, and later on the camp.

“Do you have any clothes in need of a wash?” asked Carol timidly.

Amelia turned towards Carol, “Yeah, I do, but you don’t have to wash them. I could do it later in the day.” She did not want to burden her with her chores. From what she saw the day before, she already had her hands full with the bastard of a man she had for a husband.

“Oh, I don’t mind,” she reassured her. “It keeps me occupied and it gives me a purpose around here,” she added, when she saw the hesitation in Amelia’s hazel eyes.

“Well, if you’re sure…” she trailed off. Carol gave her a nod and a smile, which made it hard for Amelia to deny her wishes, “Let me go get them then.”

Amelia pivoted in her spot, taking one step, she came to a halt once she realized she was forgetting something. She looked over her shoulder and saw her child who was talking with grand hand gestures to the other two kids.

“Go,” Lori told her, once she saw the reason why she came to a stop. “I’ll watch him.”

With one last grateful smile and glance towards Lucas, she took off jogging towards the tent in which she had spent the night in. Smelling each article of clothing, she concluded that most of them smelled, but not wanting to abuse Carol’s kindness, she only took the least amount of clothes she could in her hands belonging to her and Lucas. 

Gathering the clothes in her arms, she made her way outside for a second time that day. Carol was ironing some clothes, and she only left her belongings with her when she promised that she would let her know if it was too much for her. With a last thank you, she made her way towards her son.

On the way, she came upon Glenn, who was looking at his shoes in despair. “What’s wrong?” she asked him.

“They're taking apart the Camaro,” he whined, gesturing with his hand towards where the car was being ripped apart. The same car that had saved her and Lucas from their deathly hike in the woods the day before with its loud alarm.

Shaking her head with an amused smile on her lips, she patted him on the shoulder, “Have hope. Maybe we’ll find another one?” She said, without conviction, for there was a slim chance of that happening.

Groaning, he made his way towards Dale, who was having way too much fun taking apart the car Glenn had taken a liking to. He turned around, walking backward, “I can only hope,” he said with a small smile.

Amelia watched him complain to Dale with a smile and a shake of her head. Even though she had only been in the group for a night, she was starting to feel welcome and at peace, and that scared her; for in a world where everything could be taken from you in the blink of an eye, it was dangerous to grow attached to things or people.  _ No, I can’t think like that. I’m here and I’m safe, Lucas is safe. _

With the thought of her son, she kept on with her previous destination, but when she reached where she had last seen him, she came to find that he was no longer there. Deciding not to jump to conclusions, she went on to look for Lori, who was hanging up some clothing as she talked with Rick. Given the heated look between the couple, she sensed that their conversation was somewhat serious. Not wanting to interrupt, she approached Andrea instead who was talking with Amy by the fire pit.

_ Maybe they know where the kids are. _

“Hey, do you know where the kids are?” she asked them, looking around.

“Oh, I think they went over those bushes. I heard them say something about playing tag?” her last sentence sounded more like a question than a statement.

“But don’t worry,” Amy jumped in, catching how Amelia tensed up and her eyes winded. “They know not to go beyond the borders of the camp and to stay within shouting distance. And they promised they’d keep an eye on Lucas.”

Amelia released a shaky breath, her worry not completely melting away. “Thanks, I’m gonna go look and keep an eye on them.”

She had not moved more than two feet from where she was talking with the sisters, when she heard a scream. The scream of a child that made her heart stop and freeze for a second and made the camp move into action. Shaking herself from her stupor, she ran, following Rick and Lori, not letting the panic get a hold of her. 

_ Please no, not my son. Or any child for that matter. _

“Momma!” a small voice could be heard calling, a small voice that Amelia knew too well, and made her pick up her pace.

Amelia had not heard that tone in her son’s voice in a while, granted she heard it now more than she'd liked, given the way of things. The last time he had called on her in such a way was when he was at the hospital with a high fever and they were putting the IV on his arm. Lucas had always been scared of needles, just like her, and he had screamed the same way Amelia had just heard, and she had felt powerless because she could not do anything about it; her son needed the IV at the time, but now, she could do something. She could run faster and get to him, protect him.

“Luke!” she bellowed in panic, her feet moving towards the direction of his screams. “Lucas!”

From the corner of her eye, she saw Glenn throw Rick a weapon and that urged her to go faster. Carl came from behind some bushes, panic and fear swimming in his eyes, holding on to the small hand of the crying little boy. Seeing their boys, Amelia and Lori ran up to them, and once Lucas was within arm reach, she picked him up and held him close to her. She could feel his tears leaving a wet patch on her chest and his hands gripping her shirt.

“Lucas, are you ok? Are you bit?” she desperately asked, as she tried to pull him away from her chest, to check him over but the little boy wouldn’t budge. He buried himself deeper against her and shook his head from left to right. “Honey, I need to see. I need to make sure.” Amelia begged the small boy. She needed to know if she was losing the only person that mattered to her, if she was losing her anchor and her strength.

“He’s not. He’s ok,” Carl’s words cut through her worry, the young boy was hugging his mother, burying his face in her stomach.

Part of Amelia’s worry ebbed away, but the thought of almost losing her son lingered in her mind. She followed Lori, who was steering her son away from where the kids had come from, paying close attention to what the boy was telling his mother once she inquired what had happened.

“We were playing hide and seek. I was helping Luke hide and then we saw it,” he said with a dazed look. Lori sat at the edge of the picnic table, holding her son’s hands who was standing in front of her. Amelia sat beside Lori, talking softly to the boy in her arms, paying close attention to Carl’s story. “We heard a weird noise, and then we saw it.” The boy turned his eyes towards the forest, where his father and other camp members were currently dealing with the situation, not aware of his repetition.

“What did you see, baby?” Lori worriedly asked him, after he remained silent for a while.

“A-a walker. It-um, it was eating a-a deer,” he said looking at his mother.

Lori muttered what sounded like an ‘Oh my God’ and pulled her son against her chest. Amelia could not imagen what they had witnessed, but it must have been pretty horrifying for them, hell she didn’t doubt that it was.

“It was scary,” came the muffled reply of the four-year-old who was resting his head against his mother’s shoulder, playing with a strand of Amelia’s hair. His cry had subsided, and he was left double breathing, which made her chest hurt and prompted her to rub soothing circles on his back.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Lori get up, leading a reluctant Carl into the RV, giving her space to calm Lucas. She smiled gently at Amelia over her shoulder and Amelia smiled gratefully back at her before she turned her attention back towards her son.

“Lucas,” Amelia drew him from her chest, with quite difficulty, since the boy was quite content where he was perched up. When she managed to cradle his head against her hands, her heart broke upon the sight her eyes witnessed. What was in front of her was not the child she was used to seeing, and that scared her. “Oh Luke, baby. I know it was scary, but you are safe now. I’ve got you.” Amelia wiped the remaining tears from his cheeks, as she tried to see if what remained of the lively and happy child had been sucked away by that encounter. He sniffed, and looked up at her, his doe green eyes shining with fear. Brushing away the lonely tear that fell from the corner of his eye with the pad of her thumb, she dropped a feather kiss against his forehead. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” she whispered against his hair.

The boy cuddled against his mother’s chest, “I love you mommy”

Amelia blinked her tears away, with her chin resting against his sandy blond hair, she whispered, “I love you too Lucas.”

The tender moment between mother and son was broken when a familiar figure broke away from the trees bellowing “Merle!”

Amelia tensed up when she heard that familiar voice that she hadn't heard in a long while. That raspy voice that made her feel giddy and at the same time scared. She turned towards her childhood best friend who was walking into camp with determination. He was still the same as she remembered him, messy brown hair, blazing blue eyes, wearing a dirty wife beater and jeans, with his famous crossbow in his hand. Her breath caught in her throat, and she shifted in her seat, hiding herself from the familiar blue eyes. 

Lucas shifted in her arms, trying to get a glimpse of the newcomer. Once he saw who it was, he turned his curious eyes to his mother, “Mommy, don’t you have a picture of that man? What’s his name…um…Daryl?” the boy inquired in a tone that was too loud for her liking.

Amelia blushed, and looked around, thankful that her son did not manage to catch the attention of the man in question. He did manage to catch the attention of Lori though, who looked at her with an eyebrow raised, and her blush deepened. Lori signaled her to make her way towards her.

“Shhh,” she mockingly glared at her son, and as cautiously as she could, she got up from her seat, trying not to draw the unwanted attention of Daryl.

The crossbow wielding man took no notice of the woman who was making her way silently towards the RV with a little boy in her arms. His eyes were focused towards where his tent was seated, calling out towards the brother, who unbeknown to him was not present at camp, with the rest of the men trailing behind him, looking solemn and regretful. “Merle! Get your ugly ass out here,” he called once again.

“I think you should put Lucas in the RV. The rest of the kids are in there,” said Lori, with a worry glanced at Daryl.

She nodded, getting why she suggested this to her, “What you think buddy? Want to hang out with the other kids?” she asked looking down at her son. The boy looked hesitant, “I’ll be right outside. If you need anything just call out, ok?” she reassured him.

Carl came down by the steps and seeing the little boy, his eyes brightened, “Luke, want to play with us?”

Seeing the older boy and hearing his mother’s words, the little boy grew less hesitant, and gave a slight nod. Sending a grateful smile towards Carl, Amelia released the four-year-old. Before he disappeared inside the RV, the boy looked back at his mother with a smile, his eyes filled with a little bit of joy. 

Amelia released a shaky breath, trying to compose herself before she had to confront the man she had not seen in a while. She tensed up when she heard him called out towards his brother once again.

“I got some squirrels. Let’s stew them up,” he called out, holding out a line of dead squirrels.

Taking a deep breath, she turned, seeing him standing in the center of the camp, surrounded by the other camp members, oblivious to the somber and scared looks that they were sending him. Amelia shuffled behind Lori, wanting to keep out of view. Lori looked back at her, sending her a reassuring smile, knowing what she was doing but not questioning it, before she turned back towards the scene that was about to take place.

“Daryl,” Shane called out, stopping long enough to put the gun on his Jeep. “Just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“About Merle,” answered the cop, moving slowly towards where the women were. “There was a- There was a problem in Atlanta.”

Amelia saw how Daryl visibly tensed up and at that moment she wanted nothing more than to move forward and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, not caring what had happened in the past with them. But the fear of how he would react to seeing her and scared of getting rejected kept her rooted on her spot, hiding from him when he turned to look at all of them.

Daryl looked at the group around him, and for a moment he thought he saw a familiar set of hazel eyes, but he chalked it up as his mind playing tricks on him.  _ She’s dead you dumbass, and even if she’s alive, you aren’t that lucky as to run into her on the end of the world.  _ He heard the voice of his brother speak to him in his head. Trying to forget the woman who hunted his thoughts, he turned back towards Shane. He had more pressing matters than a preppy girl to worry about.

“He dead?” he asked, as he moved slightly to the right.

Amelia bit her nails, as she saw what was unfolding, a habit which she shared with the redneck inquiring about his brother.

“We’re not sure,” Shane answered truthfully.

“He either is or he ain’t!” the crossbow wielding man snapped, getting fed up with the cop’s antics.

Rick saw that his partner was losing control of the situation, so he decided to step up.

“No easy way to say this, so I’ll just say it.”

By this point, Amelia had forgotten about her nails, and was now biting her lips, while she pulled her fingers, trying to get her anxiety in check.

“Who are you?”

“Rick Grimes.”

“ _ Rick Grimes _ ,” mocked Daryl, already losing it. He only wanted to know what had happened to his brother. “You got something you want to tell me?”

Rick was not put off by his attitude, hell he had dealt with worse at the precinct before the world went to hell, “Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He’s still there.”

Amelia felt a weight on her hands and looked at Lori who was halting her assault on them by taking a hold of her hand. The brown harried woman looked at her reassuringly and Amelia squeezed her hand in thanks and turned her attention towards the men.

“Hold on. Let me process this. You’re saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof, and you left him there?!” Daryl yelled, not believing what he was hearing.

Amelia jumped at the tone. Even though she had heard it a lot of times, it always scared her when he raised his voice.

“Yeah,” Rick answered weekly. Amelia could see the shame and guilt he felt over it.

Daryl looked at Rick, his eyes blazing. Taking a shaky breath, he threw the squirrels at Rick, who ducked before they could hit him.

“Hey,” Shane called, running straight at him, shoving him towards the floor.

By this point, Amelia’s breath was coming in erratic pants and she was tightening her hold on to Lori’s hand, seeking comfort. She let out a small whimper when Daryl took out his knife, not believing what she was witnessing.  _ Daryl, what are you doing? What happened to you? _

Daryl always had a temper, she had witnessed it countless of times, but never like this. This was something else, and it worried her to think that the man she once knew was no longer present. 

The fuming redneck lunged at Rick, who once again dodge his attack. When Daryl lunged again, Rick took a hold of his hand, and Shane ran towards him, locking an arm around his neck.

Daryl struggled against his hold, “You’d best let me go!”

“Nah, I think it’s better if I don’t,” taunted Shane.

Amelia tried to move forwards, to try and do something, but Lori held her in place, shaking her head when the petite woman was about to protest.

“Choke hold’s illegal.”

“You can file a complaint,” mocked Shane once again.

Not being able to take it anymore, she stepped forward breaking away from Lori's hold. “Shane let him go.” She stopped in her track when Rick held out a hand up towards her, asking her to wait.

Crouching down, the sheriff saw how the blue-eyed man went rigid on his partner’s arms, his eyes filling with disbelief, but it was replaced with anger as soon as it came. “I’d like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think you can manage that?” When he didn’t respond, Rick repeated the question and this time, he gave a slight nod, which made Shane release him.

Daryl stayed on the floor, partly because he was still winded and another part because he could not believe the voice he just heard.  _ That’s not her. That’s not her.  _ He kept repeating in his head.

“What I did was not on a whim,” Rick explained to the man, crouching down towards where he was lying. “Your brother does not work and play well with others.”

T-Dog moved forward, standing beside Amelia, who was biting her lip anxiously, “It’s not Rick’s fault. I had the key. I dropped it.”

As Daryl turned to look at the dark-skinned man, he saw that what he heard was real. Amelia was here, in this camp, alive. She was thinner than he remembered her, and had aged a few years, just like he had, but she was the same Amelia. Messy mid back auburn hair, pitied frame, olive tan skin and hazel eyes that shined with uncertainty, happiness, fear and something else he could not grasp. When he made eye contact with her, his eyes softened for a second, but he then remembered their last encounter and they hardened just as quick, which made her take a step back, and stand beside Lori.

Daryl turned back towards T-Dog, determined to ignore Amelia, “You couldn’t pick it up?”

“I dropped it in a drain.”

Scoffing he stood up, “If it’s supposed to make me feel better, it don’t.”

As he passed by Amelia, she kept her eyes trained on him, hoping that he at least would turn back towards her, but he kept on walking, ignoring her.  _ Ok, that hurt _ . She couldn't deny that when she made eye contact with him, something in her flutter but when he glared, she got scared and got back to her place besides Lori. She did not want to make it harder on the men to deal with his grouchy ass.

Daryl could feel her gaze but kept his attention on T-Dog, “Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof, so the geeks couldn’t get at him, with a padlock.”

“It’s gotta count for something,” Rick told the redneck, who was snarling at T-Dog.

Amelia witnessed how Daryl wiped his eye, trying to mask his tear, hardening his gaze. “Hell, with all y’all! Just tell me where he is so’s I can go get him.”

“He’ll show you,” Lori spoke up, making Daryl look at her, and by default to look at Amelia. He took notice of how she was standing close to her, biting her lip in worry. “Isn’t that right?”

Amelia looked between her, Rick and Daryl, wondering what was going on. By the tone that Lori was using, she was not happy by this. Amelia could sympathize with her. She just got her husband back. The husband who she thought was dead, who was now wanting to go back to the city from which he probably wouldn’t come back from.

Rick looked around, feeling kind of exposed by being put on the spot. He gave a slight nod, “I’m going back.”

With that, Lori went into the RV and Daryl stalked off towards his tent.

Amelia, not knowing what to do, followed Lori into the RV. Lori was leaning against the counter, her gaze trained on the children that were seated at the table, talking amongst themselves. Lucas was seated beside Carl and across from Sophia, talking excitedly, oblivious to what had occurred.

The auburn headed woman perched herself beside Lori, and smiled at the scene, happy that her joyful little boy was back. Amelia’s thoughts were going a million miles an hour, with thoughts of her son, Merle’s situation and Daryl.

_ God, I just saw Daryl after five years, and he's still the same. Same temper, same attitude. By the looks of it he hates me. How will we live in the same camp? Oh God, what if he demands that we get kicked out-No, he’s not like that. But then again, you haven’t been closed to him in years, maybe he’s changed, maybe- _

__ Her thoughts were cut off by a nudge against her shoulder, “Huh?”

“You ok?” Lori asked her.

“Yeah. I’m fine,” she lied, keeping her gaze on the floor.

“Go,” Lori told her, nodding her head towards the entrance of the RV. When Amelia looked at her quizzically, Lori clarified, “Talk to him.”

Realization struck her and her eyes went wide with fear, “Oh no. I don’t think he wants to see me, and besides-

“Don’t say you don’t want to talk to him, when you actually do. I may have met you yesterday, but you are an open book. You want and have to talk to him.”

And she was right, but at the same time she was scared, “But what will I say to him?” she mumbled towards the floor.

“You’ll figure it out, but your mind won’t be at ease until you talk to him and you know it.”

She looked at her and sent her a small smile, “Thank you.” Lori nodded in understanding. “And I’m sorry about Rick having to go back.” At that, Lori turned sullen. “If it’s something that I have gathered is that that man is stubborn. I mean, he found you and Carl in an apocalyptic world after being in a coma. I think he will be just fine.”

Lori smiled in thanks, and blinked away her tears, “Thank you.” Chuckling slightly, she nudged her once again, “Now stop dragging this on and go. I will watch over Lucas” she added, when she saw her turn her gaze towards her son.

Breathing deeply, Amelia made her way out of the RV, with a last glance towards Lori and her son. She had a crossbow wilding man to face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you think?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I've been MIA, but I was dealing with finals, and I can proudly announce that I finished my semester yesterday. So, I'll probably have more chapters up, but I don't promise anything.
> 
> Anyways, I leave you here with another chapter. I hope you enjoy it. I want to thank you all for the comments and kudos 
> 
> Another thing, I tried to be loyal to canon Daryl, but I don't know if I did a good job. You guys let me know that you think. 
> 
> Anyhow, I'll let you get on with the chapter. I remember that English is not my first language, so go easy on me. And that I don't own the Walking Dead, just my OCs.

With every step Amelia took, the courage she previously possessed faded away. As she neared the little campsite where her childhood best friend was probably fuming in anger for what happened to his brother, she found herself wondering how the hell Lori had managed to convince her into talking to Daryl. Deep down she knew she would have to confront him sooner or later, especially if she planned on being a part of the group, but she figured that she would’ve time to prepare herself.

Before she knew it, she found herself on the little campsite of the temperamental Georgian man. Looking around, she concluded that perhaps he was inside his tent, since she could not see him anywhere.

“OK Amelia. You can do this,” she whispered as she shifted in her spot before the tent. “You just gotta go in there and talk to him. How hard can that be?” A beat passed. “Or maybe you call out to him?” She whispered to herself, as she wondered what the best course of action to take was. After a minute of her standing on the same spot as before, trying to will some courage, she grumbled, and threw her hands in the air and let them drop, slapping them against her thighs, “This is stupid.”

“Then what the hell are you doing here then?” a familiar southern drawl came from behind her.

Amelia jumped on her spot and turned towards the voice owner. “Daryl, you-um. You scared me.”

The man in question only grumbled, and moved past her, sitting at a nearby log that was beside the tent. Amelia stood on her spot awkwardly, pulling at her fingers; a habit she had developed due to her anxiety. Even though she knew that Daryl wouldn’t most likely start talking, she hoped he would, because at the moment her courage and the speech she had prepared could not be found. Wanting the silence to end, she opened her mouth, “I-um. I just…um.” Nothing seemed to come out. Should she apologize for what happened years ago or the misfortune of his brother? His animosity wasn’t helping her either. Would he even want to hear what she had to say? 

“I haven’t got all day, girl.” He grumbled from where he was seated, keeping his attention on his task. Amelia could see the tense of his muscles, and how he was gripping his bow, as to keep himself from biting his nails, a habit she knew well.  _ He’s uncomfortable.  _ “If you got something so say, say it. I have other matters that are far more important than a conversation with a college grad.” So maybe he didn’t want to hear it then. 

At those words Amelia flinched, bringing memories from the altercation that broke their friendship. Blinking her tears away, she said the first thing on her mind, “I, uh, I came to get something.” At his silence, Amelia rambled on. “It’s just that, um, my stuff. They are in your tent, well, because we spent the night there. Which, I know you would be against, but they insisted, because there was no room on any other tent. But don’t worry, we’ll be out of your hair. Dale said he would find me another tent, which it’s kinda cool. Did you know I have never been camping, neither has Lucas? This could be that; our little camping trip, well minus the monsters that lurk at night, but still. Anyways, I planned on taking my stuff out, but uh, you came earlier than expected. And I…had…” she trailed off when she was met with one of his glares.

“Yeah, I’m just gonna…yeah,” she said, stepping into the tent, avoiding any eye contact.

She took the first thing that she saw, which happened to be Lucas’ triceratops. Before she made her way outside, she tried to calm her nerves.  _ Talk to him later, not now. Just go out there and ignore him. How hard can that be? Oh, who am I kidding, I’m a mess _ . She let out a tired sight, and ran hand through her messy auburn hair, as she breathed in and out. Her little meditation was cut short by a familiar small voice right outside the tent.

“Is my mommy in there?”

Amelia perked up and bolted out the tent. Is not that she did not trust Daryl with her son, it was just that he did not know about him and she had no idea how he would react. When she stepped outside, she almost crashed into the muscled back of her childhood best friend, who was blocking her view. At 5’10’’ he towered a little over her, making it hard to see over his shoulder. Amelia stepped around him, and once again avoided eye contact, as she kneeled by the little boy who was looking at the crossbow wielding man curiously. Once he saw his mother, he turned towards her with his eyebrow furrowed.

“Mommy that’s the man you have a picture of,” he exclaimed pointing at the man in question.

Amelia felt heat crawling to her face. It looked like little Lucas did not get the message when his mother had shushed him a while ago for the same comment. She chose to ignore both the comment and the eyes that were boring at her back. She took the hand that was pointing at the man behind her and brought it to his side, “What are you doing here baby? I thought Lori was looking over you.”

“Oh, I escaped mommy!” he exclaimed like it was an accomplishment.

“Baby, you can’t do that,” she said softly cupping his cheek. “Lori must be worried sick.”

“M’ sorry mommy. I just, I just wanted to be with you.” He bowed his head and started to ruffle the dirt with his shoe.

Amelia sight, and picked him up in her arms, dropping a kiss on his sandy blond hair, “Oh honey. It's ok, but next time let her, or anyone know, ok? That way she knows and doesn't worry,” They boy nodded. “Here, I came to get you this.” When he saw the dinosaur, he perked up and took it. Amelia let out a breath and turned towards the man behind her, preparing herself for the worst.

When she turned, he was looking at them both with an expression she had never seen on his face before, but once he saw her looking, he hardened his expression. She felt Lucas bury his face on the crook of her neck, a sign of his shyness, while keeping his eyes on the man before them as he hugged the dinosaur to his chest. She looked from one to the other, the younger of the two looking in both wonder and hesitation, and even though Daryl’s features were set on his famous scowl, she could read in his eyes the confusion. But there was something else there she could not make out.

“Um, Daryl, this is my son, Lucas. Lucas, this is Daryl, mommy’s-uh,” she broke off, not knowing how to introduce him to her child. As far as she knew, he did not want anything to do with her. She looked at him, trying to get a clue as to how to introduce him. The only response she got was, oh what do you know, a glare. Something ran through her at that moment, as she saw what she interpreted as a daring look. Determined, Amelia took a deep breath and maintained eye contact with him as she said, “Mommy’s friend.” As soon as those words left her lips, she saw how his eyes widened slightly, and his jaw clenched. He nodded at the little boy in her arms, who in return gave him a little smile, and with a last look at Amelia, he turned on his feet and went into his tent.

Releasing a shaky breath, she looked at her son, “Now, let’s go back to Lori who must be worried sick.” The boy smiled sheepishly and held on to his mother’s hand once she put him on the ground.

As she walked back towards Lori and the others, she did not question her reason as to why she introduced him as her friend. Amelia had forgiven him a long time ago, and to her he was still her friend, and she figured that by introducing him that way towards her son, she’d be letting him know that. That despised everything, he would always be her friend. But Daryl was Daryl, and he could hold a grudge, so she would do anything in her power to try and win his friendship back, and if the first step was introducing him as her friend, then so be it. It would not be easy, and she knew that, but she had to start somewhere.  _ I’ll be damned if I lose him again. _

When she made it to the middle of the campsite, she saw some of the kids sitting at the floor of the camp, playing. Suddenly, Lori ran out of the RV, looking around nervously and afraid. Once she saw the boy with her mother, she let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God. Lucas, you scared me. I did not see you with the kids and I got worried.”

Amelia looked down at her son, whose head was bowed. Squeezing his hand, she shoved him softly towards the woman in front of them. The boy looked back at his mother with his big green eyes, and she looked at him knowingly and gave a small nod. “I’m sowy miss Lori. I-uh- I just wanted mommy,” he mumbled towards the floor.

Lori looked at him tenderly and knelt before the boy, lifting his shin to meet his teary green eyes. “Oh honey, don’t cry. I’m not mad,” she said, wiping away the tears. “I was just worried. How was I supposed to tell your momma that I lost her little prince?” She joked, poking him on the ribs, which earned her a little squeal. “Next time, all you have to do is let me know, and I’ll get her for you, ok?” The boy nodded. Lori squeezed his shoulder and stood back up.

Amelia smiled and turned to Lori, who was looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Amelia knew the reason for the look, and in hopes of stopping her from asking questions, she brought on a new topic. “Hey, bud. Why don’t you go on and play with the kids?” The nodded excitedly and ran towards Carl who was sitting by himself playing with a stick sitting on one of the logs by Amy. Amelia turned to Lori, who was still looking pointedly at her. “What?”

“Don’t plat dumb. Did you talk to him?”

Amelia moved towards where the two boys were with Lori following her. “I did.” She said, not wanting to go into detail.

Lori sensing this let the matter drop and sat by the boys. Helping Amy with some of the clothes. Amelia decided to help, wanting to occupy her mind from the thoughts of a certain redneck.  _ Speak of the devil. _

From the corner of her eye, she saw him make his way towards where she was kneeling but not getting too close. She stole a glance of him, and saw him fidgeting with his arrows and crossbow, making sure they were in perfect condition for his next expedition to Atlanta. He must have felt her looking at him because in the next second, he turned towards her, and as soon as they made eye contact, Amelia turned back to her task. Lori cached the exchange and sent her a smirk, making Amelia stick her tongue out.

Their little exchange was interrupted by Shane chasing after Rick, trying to stop him from going after Merle, “Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?”

At his words Daryl looked up from where he stood cleaning his arrows. “Hey, choose your words more carefully.”

Amelia stood from where she was kneeling with the kids and Lori, sending a reassuring smile at her son who looked up at her worriedly.

Shane didn’t even spare a glance towards the hunter. “No, I did. Douche bag’s what I meant.”

“Asshole.” The petite auburn-haired woman mumbled under her breath as she glared at the deputy, but it seemed that her insult had not been as quiet as she hoped, for Lori looked at her questioningly and Daryl turned towards her, his eyes holding a trace of amusement that was gone in the blink of an eye. Amelia looked at them both with wide eyes, and mumbled a small ‘sorry’, turning back towards the discussion, relieved that no one else had caught her slip.

“Merle Dixon-that guy wouldn’t give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst,” the deputy complained, trying to make his case.

“What he would or wouldn’t do doesn’t interest me. I can’t let a man die of thirst.” Rick argued back at Shane. It seemed that the sheriff wouldn’t be so easy to sway by his best friend, it was clear the regret and the duty he felt he needed to do. “We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That’s not ok.”

Amelia looked between the two of them and saw that Rick’s mind was made up. She looked to the other camp members and noticed that the only ones willing to go back for Merle, were Daryl and him. From her left, she felt Lori shift on her legs, “So you and Daryl, that’s your big plan?” she asked incredulously.

The petite auburn haired woman mother of one looked around, and saw that no one was volunteering, and that worried her. Sure, she knew that Daryl could take care of himself, if there was anyone who was prepared to survive this world, it would be him. And yeah, Rick had made it to camp after waking up from a coma, saving the other camp members, but there was so much they both could do. She bit her lip, contemplating on speaking up and accompanying them; granted she had no experience whatsoever in killing those things, and sure she feared them, who didn’t, but as she saw it another pair of hands couldn’t hurt. No matter how experienced they were.

Amelia took a step forward, and as if the archer that was seated on the log a few feet away from her could sense her intentions, he turned his head to look back at her, and Amelia was rewarded with one of the harshest glares she has ever received from her former best friend. The petite woman stopped in her tracks, and raised an eyebrow questioningly, but the man only kept glaring at her direction. She knew what his glare meant; it was a warning for her to not even dare to suggest what she had in mind.

Biting her lip, she decided not to test Daryl’s patience, and stood back. She turned her head back towards her son, and as she looked at him play with Carl, she asked herself what the hell she was about to do. She was willing to leave and accompany Daryl on what would probably be a suicide mission and leave her son behind? Mortified by the thought, she centered herself, Lucas came first, no matter what, and no one, not even her childhood best friend would get in between that.

In the end, Amelia’s presence was not needed, for Glenn and T-Dog had volunteered. Well T-Dog had volunteered, much to Daryl’s annoyance, Glenn was asked to go due to his knowledge of the city. Still, Shane was against the idea of sending people back into the city, for it was not only a risk to them but to the camp also. With the four of them gone, it meant less hands to combat against the monster that lurked around.

Amelia pondered on Shane’s argument, and it would be a lie to say that it didn’t worry her, because it did, but a man was out there. If they left him behind, what did that say about them as people? Just because the world had gone monstrous, it didn’t mean that they had to go with it too. In the end, it was the last thing they had. As Amelia saw it, it was a grasp into the old way of life, and it was not right to lose that which made everything as it once was.

The petite mother focused back into the conversation, and it had turned into a discussion about a bag of guns which Rick had managed to grab from his station before leaving his hometown, which he had lost in the city. The sheriff hoped that this would convince his best friend into agreeing to let him go, for it was a needed around camp. Amelia looked around, to try and grasp the positioning on the matter from the other camp members and if her hazel eyes had a mind of their own, they fell on the crossbow wielding man who was standing by the side, watching the whole conversation with feign disinterest.

It brought a feeling of nostalgia to her, how he always seemed to blend into the background. He had always been a wallflower, someone who observed and preferred to go unnoticed if given the chance. Amelia knew that it was tied to his childhood and the way of life in his home, for it worked in his favor to go unnoticed, and it had stayed with him from there on out.

It reminded her of a time where she would find him sulking when his brother had one of his friends over and he would stay leaning against a nearby wall, pretending to be disinterested but paying close attention. That was until she would skip over to his side, and goof around until it annoyed him.  _ “Don’t ya got something better to do, girl?”  _ he would usually grumble. To which Amelia would usually reply, “ _ And deny you from my amazing presence? I think not.”  _ And it would either award her a faint smile or a slight chuckle on lucky days. Amelia smiled at the memory, and turned back around to the conversation, looking flustered when she found herself still looking at him and catching Lori’s knowing look. By doing so, she missed how Daryl gave her the same look she gave him, not knowing he was reliving the same memory.

It seemed that there was another reason that Rick wanted the bag, and it was not only because of the gun. The bag contained a walkie-talkie which would enable Rick to communicate with a father and son who had helped him during the time he awoke to the madness of the current world. The sheriff needed to warn them to stay away from the city, which is where they had planned on meeting. And so, it seemed that it was all decided, the four men were headed into Atlanta to not only save Merle, but a father and child, and to get the bag of guns.

Thus, the discussion was over with, and the camp members spread out to do their own thing. Lori took Carl to the side to explain to him in detail the reason for his father’s departure. Amelia was seated with her son, watching as he played around with his dinosaur and the toy cars that Carl had lent him. It amazes her how her son’s innocence was still somewhat intact.

Amelia felt a prickling sensation and turned her head. She managed to lock eyes with Daryl, who appeared to be analyzing her. He stood up abruptly, and taking his crossbow walked towards the van, not looking back.

Amelia stood rooted to her spot, making her mind, she turned towards Amy, who was a few feet away. “Amy, would you mind keeping an eye on him, please?”

The young girl smiled, “Sure, no problem.”

“I’ll be right back, ok?” she reassured her son. He looked up at her and nodded, turning back towards his toys.

Amelia took off jogging towards the direction to which Daryl had gone. She came to a stop by the van, bending down to catch her breath.  _ Damn, I need to do something about my physical condition. _ “Daryl,” she called softly, moving towards the back of the van and finding him seating on the edge of the carrier trailer, his feet dangling as he looked over his crossbow.

“What da ya want?” he grumbled, not looking up from his task.

Amelia flinched, “I just wanted to tell you to be careful.” He remained silent, his attention on his crossbow. “And that-um, I hope you find Merle.” Although he was an asshole, Amelia didn’t think anyone deserves to be left behind. Besides, she might also be biased, since she knew a side of the older Dixon brother that many were unaware that existed. 

Daryl grunted and kept playing with his weapon. No one had to know that her words had affected him, as well as her presences, but that didn’t mean that he was ready to face her or talk to her. He wasn't even sure he wanted to either. 

Amelia stood there for a second, biting her lip, waiting to see if he would say anything else. “Ok, then,” she breathed as she let out a defeated sight. She knew it would not be easy, but the way he was treating her it was beginning to make her feel like shit. She had at least hoped that maybe he would be willing to try and mend their broken friendship, but by the looks of it, she had been wrong. Amelia turned on her spot, ready to go back towards her son, but came to halt when the stubborn redneck spoke up.

“It’s not smart to walk around defenseless, much less a preppy girl like you. No matter how safe it seems.” He grumbled. She heard a thud and looked over her shoulder.

“Huh?” Daryl had set his crossbow down on the van, and was now leaning against it, glaring at her.

“I don’t see a weapon on ya.”

She turned fully towards him, pulling her fingers. “That’s because I don’t have one,” she mumbled.

Daryl grumbled something under his breath, and brought his hand towards his side, unclipping something. He moved towards her, his steps quick and determined. Amelia stood grounded on her spot, holding her breath. From his side he withdrew a sheath with a hunting knife inside and held it out to her.

“Here.”

“What?” she blinked rapidly, not really understanding his behavior.

“Take the damn knife, Mia.” He grumbled.

Amelia’s breath hitch at the nickname, it had been so long since she had heard it. By the way his eyes winded, it seemed that it took him by surprise too. She never thought she'd heard him call her that. She would be lying if she said that it didn’t make her heart beat a bit faster. Amelia kept looking at him, trying to understand the reason behind this new change, a few seconds ago he was giving her the cold shoulder.

“I haven’t got all day, just take the stupid knife.” He impatiently pushed the knife towards her, urging her to take it. 

Slowly, she brought her hands up, and took the knife from his outstretched hand. Her hand slightly brushed his, and he drew it back as quickly as he could. An awkward silence fell upon them both, and Daryl turned quickly around, jumping back into the van.

“Um, thank you,” she called out to him. He moved towards the front of the van and kicked the horn, ignoring her.

“Come on, let’s go!” he yelled at the others.

Amelia stood rooted on her spot, and saw Glen run up towards the front, taking a seat on the driver’s side. She smiled at him as he passed by and he returned it.

“Where did you get that?” Shane grumbled from behind her.

She jumped and looked at him, eyes wide, “I…” He took the knife from her hands, as he glared at her.

Amelia turned to look back at Daryl with wide eyes. The rednecks face had turned into a deadly glare. Amelia had only seen this look on him a few times and she knew that what would come next would not be pretty. Like the time when she was seventeen, she was at Henry’s party, a kid that lived a few blocks away from her home. It was safe to say that they had been the talk around the school the next week when everyone heard that Daryl had punched him after he kept trying to get Amelia to drink. 

Daryl jumped from the van, and moved towards them, his sight set on Shane. “I gave it to her. Got a problem?” he stood beside her, glaring at Shane. Amelia’s breath hitch, not only due to his proximity, but because of the confrontation that was about to begin.

Shane glared right back at him, and took a menacing step forward, “Yeah, I do. I don’t trust her.”

Daryl growled, and went to challenge him, when Amelia put her hand on his shoulder holding him back. He recoiled from her touch and turned to glare at her. The mother of one looked up at him wide eyed, she had no idea why she did it, it must have been a reflex. It was something she would always do in the past to try and calm him down when he was mad, but she had forgotten that at the moment, they were not there yet. There were still things they needed to talk about before they reached the level of intimacy they once had, or at least somewhere in between. She mumbled an apology towards him and looked at Shane who was looking at them with an eyebrow raised.

“He didn’t give it to me. It fell, and I was going to return it to him,” she lied, looking at Daryl to try and get him to follow her lead, she didn’t want a fight to break out. The problem was that she was a bad liar, and Daryl was as stubborn as they come.

“No, it didn’t,” he grumbled, taking the knife from Shane's hands. “I gave it to you, for you to protect your boy and yourself.”

Amelia looked up at him, her eyes soft. She was touched by his gesture. At least he didn’t fully hate her, she figured.

“There’s no need for that,” Shane spoke up.

“He’s right Daryl,” she backed Shane up before he could say anything that would make the discussion blow up. All she wanted was to defuse the situation, but it seemed that her statement angered him more. Amelia wouldn’t be surprised if steam began to come out of his ears soon enough.

“What’s going on?” asked Rick warily, coming up besides Shane.

“Nothing.” Amelia answered quickly, not wanting to keep up with the discussion. “I just came by to wish you guys good luck, and to ask you to stay safe.” She put on one of her fake smiles.

Daryl only scoffed and took a hold of her wrist, and looked at Shane, but delivered his words to them both. “I’m giving her my knife, and she better have it on her when I return.” With one last glare, he dragged Amelia towards the side of the van, away from them.

Amelia was stunned, he had not only stood up for her, but he had also willingly touched her. Her disbelief had evaporated quickly though, because as soon as they came to a stop, he dropped her wrist like it burned him.

“Here.” He thrusted the knife towards her once again. “Don’t let him bully you into giving it to him.” He ordered her.

Amelia only nodded, taking the knife, and clipping it through her belt loops. The knife felt heavy against her thigh, not because of its weight, but because of what it entitled and who it belonged to. In all honesty, she was confused as to why he gave it to her, she knew she wouldn’t be able to use it, but she was not about to tell him that. She looked up at him; hazel and blue eyes connected, and they both managed to catch on the turmoil that swam in them. They still had a lot to talk about.

“Daryl, I…”

He held his hand up, “Save it.” And with that he turned back towards the back of the van.

Amelia stood there, blinking away her tears. All she wanted was a chance to apologize, to explain, but her childhood best friend was stubborn, and he would be caught dead before he would admit that he was hurt and sorry for how things had ended between the two of them. With a shaky breath she moved back towards where Shane and Rick were. The former eyes hardened when he took notice of the knife and turned on his heel and left. Rick looked at her and offered a small smile.

“You ok?” he asked her. Amelia nodded, not quite trusting her words.

“Come on!” the redneck bellowed.

“You better go before he blows up a casket.” She jerked her head toward where the other three members were. Rick let out a chuckle, but before he got on, she stopped him. “Please keep an eye on him. He is not like Merle, but he is impulsive. Try to be patient, please.”

Taking in the worry in her eyes, he squeezed her arm reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I will.” With one last smile, he jumped on the truck, and closed the door, but before it closed all the way, she managed to catch a glimpse of Daryl, who was looking at them with troubled eyes.

Amelia softly smiled at him, but he turned away quickly. With a defeated sight, she turned away, not looking back at the truck that was headed into danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, any thoughts?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Peeps! Well, I leave you here with another chapter. There is not much going on, all I'll say, is that it could be considered the calm before the storm? I should also mentioned, that I didn't reread this chapter much before posting it, because I didn't want to second guess myself and avoid posting it, so if anything seems weird, it might be due to that, and the fact that English is not my native language. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy it. Happy Holidays! 
> 
> I don't own the Walking Dead, just my OCCs.

She made her way back towards the rest of the camp slowly, trying to not think about the danger they would be facing in Atlanta. From what she had heard and she last remembered, the city was infested with walkers and it would be literally impossible to bypass them without trouble, which would most likely mean that going there would be signing a death sentence. She feared them not returning, especially the blue-eyed hunter. The idea of losing him after finding him during the end of the world, no less, seemed cruel. There were still so many things she needed to say to him, there were still things they needed to discuss, and she prayed to whoever was listening to bring him back unharmed. Him and the rest of the little expedition group, including Merle.

Amelia kept on walking, trying to ease her worries before she made it to rest of the company. A smile graced her lips when she spotted her four-year-old trailing behind Dale talking amicably with over exaggerated hand gestures, while the older man nodded in acknowledgement.

The former English teacher could not help but feel her heart soar at seeing her little boy socializing. For the first time, in almost a month, they weren’t alone, and her son was enjoying the notion. Her son by nature was a social and chatty child, and she noticed that while they were on the run, he started to speak less, and Amelia didn’t know if it was a survival tactic to avoid drawing attention to them from the walkers or was it because he didn’t see the point in talking anymore. She took reassurance that her son was aware of the danger and his silence was just a means to avoid death. But it also broke her heart at the idea that at four years old he would need to start practicing such tactics.

Amelia moved closer to the pair, and a smile blossomed in her lips when she heard the topic of their conversation. “And-and I had a big T-Rex and a Brachiosaurus,” Lucas exclaimed, extending his hands far away from each other for effect.

Dale chuckled at the carefree attitude of the boy, “Wow, that sounds amazing.” He replied, his tone laced with amazement. “You like dinosaurs, huh?”

Lucas nodded eagerly. “They are the bestes animals ever. But they don’t exist anymore,” he shrugged.

Amelia chuckled under her breath at his antics and met Dales’ eyes who were filled with amusement. The mother of one shook her head fondly and stepped in, to relieve the older man.

“Hey, Luke,” the child turned sharply towards her, a big smile taking over his features. “What’cha you doing, kid?”

“Mama,” he moved towards her to close the distance between them, and Amelia kneeled to his level, taking his hands in her own. “I was telling Dale about the dinos.” 

Dale and Amelia exchange a glance, “Were you now?” The child nodded proudly at his mother. “Well, I hope you didn’t take too much of his time. I know you had a lot of dinosaurs.”

Dale waved away her apologetic look, “Not at all. Lucas was keeping me company, weren’t you bud?” The boy smiled brightly at the adults, showing his dimples.

Amelia shook her head fondly as she raised to her feet, turning him by the shoulders towards the picnic table where some of the other kids were seated. Lucas understood her mother’s suggestion and joined them. The auburn headed woman turned towards the older man, “Thank you Dale.” 

“What for?” he looked at her puzzled.

Amelia shrugged, “For humoring him.” She turned to look at Lucas as he engaged in a conversation with the other children with a sad smile before turning to Dale. “It hasn’t been easy. The two of us. Alone. And it’s been a while since he has had any interaction with anyone other than me. So, I know that he probably might have talked about anything to anybody that’ll listen.”

Dale put a reissuing hand on her shoulder, “There is nothing to thank me for. Besides, he is a great kid.”

Amelia smiled at him before looking back at Lucas, who caught her eye and waved at her. “He sure is.” Which is why she still could not believe why Melanie would do what she did. Amelia cleared her throat pushing the thought of her away before turning back to Dale, “Hey, where are the women?” She asked as she looked around for them.

“They are down by the lake doing some laundry,” he informed her as he turned to look through the bag of tools he still had, since the men took some in their journey to Atlanta.

Gilt began to sweep through her at the notion that others were working while she was slacking off. “Maybe I should lend a helping hand then.” It was time for her to prove her worth.

Dale turned to look back at her and saw the gilt and uncertainty that swam in her hazel eyes. “It’s your first day here. No one would blame you if you didn’t fall into the way things work around camp.”

Amelia looked down at her shoes, not truly believing him. Shane would certainly not approve. She shrugged, resembling the image of a young girl who had just been chastised, “I just feel like I have to do something.”

Dale smiles reassuringly at her, “Why don’t you help me with the repairs of the RV?”

Amelia looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows, “Dale, I hate to break it to you but I don’t know anything about cars.”

The older man chuckled, “No worries. I’ll be the one doing the repairs, you just hand me the tools when I need them and lend me a hand when I need one,” he was about to turn around before he turned back towards her once more, “That is if you aren’t against getting your hands dirty?”

Amelia smiled and shook her head in amusement before moving to his side. As he worked on the motor, he explained what he was doing and what did what. She doubted that she would remember anything afterwards, but she was grateful for what he was doing. He was ebbing her worries away, while at the same time giving her a purpose. Sure, it was a small one but, at least it made her feel like she was doing something.

As they worked on the RV, they made small talk. Amelia learned about his life before the outbreak, about his job as a pensioner and his wife Irma. In turn, Amelia told him about hers, about Lucas, her work, and their life. During their talk he never asked about her relationship with Daryl, and she was thankful for it.

“I wanted to ask,” he began, and Amelia began to feel dread fill her. So much for not talking about Daryl then. “His father,” he nodded towards Lucas, “is he alive?” Amelia froze as she was handing him a wrench. She looked from the little boy to Dale, her mouth opening and closing several times, with no words coming out. “It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it,” he gave her an out, mistaking her silence for pain.

“No, it's just…” Amelia shook her head. How was she supposed to explain the situation to him? “He- he has never been present.” She went with. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. It was a complicated situation that Amelia did not want to get into. Besides, she wasn’t ready to share that part of her life with them yet.

Dale smiled sadly at her and left the conversation at that. They continued the rest of their work in comfortable silence, with little interruptions from Lucas who wondered towards them curious about what they were doing or with a piece of information for the pair. During the end of their work, Lori approached the two of them.

“Have you guys seen Carl?” she asked as she looked around the camp for her son.

Amelia shook her head, as she whipped her greased hand on a piece of cloth that Dale had given her, and turned to look up at Dale, who had made his way towards the top of the RV. “He’s with Shane. They said something about frogs!” he called down to her.

Lori frowned and muttered something under her breath before she stormed off towards the quarry, where Amelia figured the pair were. The auburn-haired woman turned to look up at Dale puzzled, “What was all that about?”

Dale looked down at her and Amelia knew that whatever it was, he didn’t like it. His displeasure was palpable. He shook his head and turned away.

Amelia shrugged; it was none of her business anyway. As long as it didn’t affect her or her son directly, then whatever thing that was going on could be kept a secret. Amelia made her way towards Lucas who was still seated at the picnic table. The boy beamed at his mother showing his dimple and Amelia couldn’t resist pulling him close, with the boy sitting in her lap as she attacked him with kisses.

Lucas began to laugh and fight her off, “Mommy…stop!” He wiggled in her arms as he begged for mercy.

Amelia stopped with a laugh, turning the boy who was flushed from all the laughter in her lap to look at her. As she combed her hand through his sandy blond hair, she took notice of how long it had gotten. Lucas sat content in his mother’s arms, turning for a moment to get one of his toys to keep on playing.

Again, Amelia marveled at how her son kept part of his innocence. She smiled sadly as the boy ran the toy car up her arm, and she wished with all her might that he remained that way, but she knew that it was highly probable that he wouldn’t. However, she vowed to fight with everything in her power for his innocence to remain untouched for as long as it could.

“Lucas,” the boy looked up at his mother questioningly, his green eyes shining with love, adoration, and innocence. Amelia’s throat tightened and she fought to keep her eyes from watering up, “I love you.”

The boy cucked his head to the side in confusion, before smiling at his mom, “I love you too, mommy.”

Amelia smiled tenderly at her son, and kissed his forehead, before bringing him against his chest for a hug. The boy didn’t hesitate and hugged her back. Amelia needed him to hear it, needed to say it because they were living on borrowed time. At any moment, even though she hoped it didn’t come to it, something could happen. She needed to make sure he knew, so every moment she could, she would let him know that he was loved. That she loved him.

They remained in that embrace, with Lucas still running the car over her arms and back, both content in their little bubble until Lori came walking up with a pouting Carl. At the sight of the older boy, Lucas wiggled in his mother’s arms to be set free, and Amelia let him be. The four-year-old approached Carl and began to make conversation, both taking a seat in one of the logs.

Lori dropped herself beside Amelia with a sight. Amelia turned towards her; her eyebrows furrowed in concern at the tired posture of the older woman who massaged her temple with her fingertips.

“Are you ok?” Amelia asked, moving to place a hand on her shoulder.

Lori let out a shuddering breath, before she nodded. “Yeah,” she turned to Amelia and gave her a sad smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m just…” she trailed off, not knowing what to say.

“Tired, worried, afraid?” Amelia provided, looking at her with empathy.

Lori’s eyes filled with tears, “Yeah.” She whispered, her voice breaking. Amelia moved closer and took a hold of her hands in hers.

“I know,” she whispered. “I am too.” An understanding fell over them then. They were tired of fearing the uncertainty. They were worried about the future and more importantly of the two men that were in Atlanta saving one of their own. They were afraid of never stopping, of always running and losing what mattered to them both. In unison they turned to look at their boys when they heard them laugh, and Amelia gripped her hand reassuringly. “Just know that you are not alone.” Lori squeezed her hand in thanks and smiled at her.

For the next few hours, they remain in the little picnic table, keeping a close eye on the children and folding some clothes. To keep their minds occupied and from veering into dangerous thoughts that would only make them feel worse, they talked about anything that came to their mind. For the first time in a long while, she began to feel at ease and safe, and she was thankful for it but at the same time scared. It saddens her that at any given moment that could be ripped away.

Sometime later they saw Shane stomp his way back to the main camp. His knuckles bloody and a scowl in place. He passes by them without a second glance, leaving Lori and Amelia sharing a puzzled and concerned glance. It is not until a few seconds after the rest of the woman, except Carol, came up the hill with a stunned expression that they found out that he had beaten Ed up after the man in question hit his wife in front of them. Regardless of the sentiment she held towards the deputy, she couldn’t but help vindicate his actions towards Ed.

After that, the rest of the camp went back to their respective chores, talking amongst themselves. It was much later, when she felt her heart fill at the amazement in Lucas’ face as he stared at the stack of fishes that Andrea and Amy had managed to catch, that she figured that maybe, just maybe they could build something special here. Far away from the city, where the herd of walkers and all the dangerous things lay. And maybe after the men came back from their expedition, she could work on her relationship with Daryl. Her musing was shattered by Dale’s hesitant approach to the small group.

“I don’t want to alarm anyone, but we may have a bit of a problem,” Dale slowly turned and pointed at the opposite side of the campsite where it was visible to see Jim digging rapidly. 

Without missing a beat, Shane stomped his way towards the man in question closely followed by some of the other camp members. Although Amelia was curious about the man’s behavior, she was not in the mood to follow after them. 

With a sight the woman brought her hand to her temple and began to massage it. It had been a rough morning and a lot had occurred in the last twenty four hours that she had no time to come to terms with them or even analyze them and what would mean. Before anything, she would’ve taken her frustrations out by reading a good book or just relaxing but now with the world like that, there was no time for relaxing. 

Amelia was surprised when Shane came back to camp a few minutes later dragging a haggard looking Jim. According to Lori, the poor man was digging graves, claiming that we were all going to die. To say that she was creeped out, would be putting it mildly. They didn’t need the reminder that their time was borrowed, and it did not do anything to help Amelia’s headache. 

“You ok?” Lori, asked her when she saw her massage her temple for the third time in the last hour. 

Amelia nodded, with her eyes closed, “Yeah.” She sighed, as she brushed her hair away from her face and turned to look at her. “It’s just been a long day.” 

“You can say that again,” Lori bumped her shoulder with hers and Amelia chuckled. “Look, why don’t you round up the kids. They will be starting to light the fire to cook the fish that Andrea and Amy catch.” 

Amelia turned to look at where the children were running around at a safe distance. “Yeah, I guess I’ll go do that.” 

In all honesty, Amelia was ready for the day to be over. What with the scare she suffered with Lucas early in the morning, the encounter with Daryl, them leaving, Jim’s episode, she was beyond tired. 

“They’ll be back soon, you know?” Lori reassured her. 

Amelia turned to her new friend, and looked at her incredulous, ready to argue that she was not thinking about the men in the city, but the argument died in her lips when she saw the knowing look Lori sent her way. “How did you know I was worried about them?” 

Lori shrugged as she looked at her hands, “Well, for starters, you keep pulling at your fingers.” Amelia stopped the assault on her digit at the mention of her habit, “And you keep glancing towards the direction they went, expecting to see them coming back.” 

“I just hope they all come back unharmed.” She whispered. 

“They will,” Lori said, and Amelia was grateful for the amount of conviction she tried to put into her words, despite the hint of uncertainty that laced them. Amelia didn’t blame her, not after she had seen how bad it was out there. After a second of silence, Lori stood up, holding a hand out to her. “Come on, let’s round up the little rugrats.” She inclined her head towards the rowdy kids. 

Amelia smiled, and took her offering hand. As they drew closer, Amelia allowed the energy of the kiddos to sweep over her. There was no use in worrying, she had to trust that they would make their way back. That although he was mad, he would come back.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Peeps! I hope you all had a Happy Holiday. 
> 
> So, this chapter we are trying something different. It's time we get a POV from Daryl, don't you think? I really hope I do justice to the character. Please let me know if it would be something you would like to see more of. 
> 
> I want to thank you all for the kudos. I won't keep you any longer and leave you with the chapter. 
> 
> I don't own the Walking Dead, just my OCs.

To say that Daryl was annoyed would be an understatement. Not only had he failed in retrieving his brother, but he was welcomed to the sight of his chopped off hand. Although he knew that his brother was a jerk, knowing that he had failed him made him feel angry and sad. Angry at the fact that if he hadn’t behaved like an asshole, they’d probably be back at camp, and sad at the notion that he probably lost his only living relative. 

After, finding out that his brother was not where he was supposed to be, the last thing that Daryl wanted to do was look for some guns, but alas he was outvoted, and if he wanted to find Merle with the help of the other men, he had to help them get the guns. And it seemed that the universe was rivaling against him that day, because it turned into a rescue mission when Glenn was held hostage by another group in exchange for the guns. 

Honestly, Daryl didn’t think that his day could get any worse, until they found out that his brother took their truck. 

_ Fan-Fucking-Tastic _ . 

So, they were currently making their way back on foot, trying to prepare themselves for whatever trouble his brother might be causing back at camp. 

To save energy, none of them made any advance to start conversation. They were all focused on the task at hand, one foot after the other, to make it back as quick as possible and get out of the danger that lurked in the shadows. This meant that Daryl had no way to occupy his thoughts, and so they turned towards the last person he wanted to think about. 

Throughout the day he had no chance to think about the fact that his former best friend was back at camp. Everything was too hectic, and his attention was solely focused on getting Merle back, but now that no one was talking and that there was no danger around, all he could think about was her. 

Not that he ever stopped anyways. She was always on the back of his mind, no matter how hard he tried to forget about her. He often thought about how her nose would scrunch up in annoyance whenever Merle would do or say something stupid, how he always somehow helped her after one of her clumsy moments, how she would snort whenever she laughed or how she would sometimes just stop and bask in the sun just because she felt like it. And no matter how hard he tried to forget about it, he could always remember her smile. 

He hated it, and he wanted to hate her because of it, but no matter how hard he tried he could never seem to do so.

When shit hit the fan, his first thought was her. He wanted to find her because although he didn’t doubt her strength, he didn’t think that she would be able to make it in this world on her own. She was not made for it really. And if that though made his heart feel heavy, no one had to know that. 

But he had no way of contacting her or didn’t even think he would be prepared to do so. So, he had already made peace with the fact that she was dead. 

Thus, imagine his surprise when he saw her standing there, standing up for him, just like she used to do. 

It annoyed him that she thought he was incapable of fighting his own battles, and they would bicker over it a lot, until she had set the record straight for him after he had voiced, well yelled out was more like it, how it pissed him off that she though he needed a knight in shining armor. 

_ “I don’t doubt that you can fight your battles, you jerk.” She had grumbled in anger. “I just don’t think that you should fight them alone. Not anymore.” _

It would be a lie to say that he hadn't been caught off guard by her words when he first heard them. The implication of her words were his solace for a long time. Amelia had a way of always taking him by surprise.  __

Just like she did when he saw her again after accepting she was dead. When his eyes landed on her, it was like his heart had started beating all over again. He always wondered what he would do when he saw her again, but the emotions of seeing her after all these years were overshadowed by the fact that his brother was back in Atlanta, and the remembrance of their fight. 

He didn’t know how to act, or what to say really. There were so many things he wanted to do. He wanted to laugh, he wanted to scream, he wanted to rage, but most of all he wanted to hug her. Daryl hated physical contact, except when it came to her. Her hugs were one of the best parts about his day when they were younger. They had a way of making him feel content, safe, as cheesy and stupid as it sounded. But he didn’t think he was ready for that, or if he ever would be. He was still harboring the anger and hurt over their last fight. Sure, he was elated she was alive, but the pain and fury were still present. Besides, he didn’t know where she stood with him, after all he had also said some pretty hurtful things. 

Her approaching him before he left inclined him that she was willing to at least talk, whether it was because out of her own desire to do so or because it would secure her place in the camp, he didn’t know. Daryl might have thought that it was the latter, but seeing her hesitation made him think otherwise. 

Besides, he knew her better than anyone else, she was incapable of doing such a thing. If she was the same Amelia he remembered, he knew that she was kind and caring and she frowned upon hypocrisy. 

Finding out that she was sleeping in his tent had annoyed him. Just because he might accept her back, it didn’t mean he was ready to have her in his space, but that hadn’t been as impacting as finding out she had a child. He knew she loved kids, but seeing that little boy had not prepared him for the fact that she was now actually a mother. 

Although Daryl had never had an opinion about children before, he could not deny the fact that the little boy was cute. He could see some resemblance to Amelia, in the way he turned his head to the side in curiosity like she did or smile with his whole face, but he didn’t see any physical traits that he shared with her. Maybe, the boy took after his father. 

The thought of Amelia sharing her life with another man didn’t sit well with him, and he didn’t know why and was not particularly interested in wondering why it did at the moment. Besides Rick there weren't any new male members in the camp that he was aware of, and none of the others made any mention of anyone else besides Amelia and Lucas joining the camp. So it begged the question of where the child’s father was. Had he died before or during the end or has he never been present in their lives? 

Daryl was brought out of his inner turmoil when they heard screams from the direction of their camp. They all came to a stop and shared a glance. Daryl tried to keep his face neutral, but he could see how worry and fear settled on the face of the other three men before they all broke into a run. Daryl gripped his crossbow thigh in his hands, his face hard because although he didn’t show it, he was feeling the exact same thing. Especially at the thought of Amelia and her son, because no matter how much he claimed to hate her or not care about her, he knew that was all a lie. He might still be angry, but that didn’t mean he would let her die, not if he had to say anything about it. He just hoped that Amelia had listened and kept the knife he had given her close by. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? What do you guys think? 
> 
> Sadly, I don't know when the next chapter will be up. I know I haven't been frequent with my updates, but classes will be starting next week, so I will be a bit more occupied than usual. 
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed it! :)


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